Stories from Hindu Mythology

25 May 2025

Our mythology has a lot of interesting stories with deep meaning or background. I have read lots of them online. Though I cannot confirm how closer the stories are to the truth, they are insightful indeed. Adding them here to revisit in the future.

---

General knowledge:

• The Four Yugas (Hindu Ages)
  • Hindu philosophy describes four cosmic ages (Yugas) that cycle through time, each with declining virtue and human capabilities.
  • 1. Satya Yuga (Golden Age)

    • Duration: 1,728,000 years

      Lifespan: 100,000 years

      Height: 32 feet

    • Evil: 0%

      Incarnations: Matsya, Varaha, Narasimha

    • Pilgrimage: Pushkar

      Currency: Jewels

      Vessels: Gold

  • 2. Treta Yuga (Silver Age)

    • Duration: 1,296,000 years

      Lifespan: 10,000 years

      Height: 21 feet

    • Evil: 25%

      Incarnations: Vamana, Parashurama, Rama

    • Pilgrimage: Naimisharanya

      Currency: Gold

      Vessels: Silver

  • 3. Dvapara Yuga (Bronze Age)

    • Duration: 864,000 years

      Lifespan: 1,000 years

      Height: 11 feet

    • Evil: 50%

      Incarnations: Krishna, Buddha

    • Pilgrimage: Kurukshetra

      Currency: Silver

      Vessels: Copper

  • 4. Kali Yuga (Iron Age)

    • Duration: 432,000 years

      Lifespan: 100 years

      Height: 5.5 feet

    • Evil: 75%

      Incarnations: Kalki (future)

    • Pilgrimage: Ganga

      Currency: Iron

      Vessels: Clay

  • Each age represents a decline in righteousness, human abilities, and material prosperity, following a cyclical pattern that eventually returns to the Golden Age.
• Shatagopam is a sacred, dome-shaped vessel used in Hindu temple rituals and blessings, typically made of copper, which is revered for its purity. It is often placed on the heads of devotees during temple pujas (worship rituals) to symbolize the transmission of divine energy and blessings. The act of placing Shatagopam on one’s head is believed to help calm the mind, reduce anger and anxiety, and bring about a sense of peace and spiritual connection.
• Radha was older than Krishna - Some sources state that Radha is 11 months older, while others suggest she is two, three, or even five years older.
• It is said that Lord Vishnu has already completed 9 avatars and the last one is expected to appear in the Kali Yuga. Following are the ten incarnations or avatars of Lord Vishnu
  • 1) Matsya: When Manu, who is believed to be the first human on earth, was stuck in the Great flood, Lord Vishnu incarnated himself as Matsya. Matsya, a huge fish saved the life of Manu at the beginning of Satya Yuga.
  • 2) Kurma: Appearing in the form of a giant tortoise, Lord Vishnu carried the huge mountain Mandrachala. Mandrachala was initially used to churn the ocean but as the ocean was too deep, it started to drown and hence Lord Vishnu descended on earth.
  • 3) Varaha: A demon named Hiranyaksha took the whole of earth to the bottom of the sea. Lord Vishnu came in the form of Varaha, a wild boar and kept the earth back to its original place.
  • 4) Narasimha: Hiranyakashipu, a demon had a boon that he could be killed neither by a human nor by an animal, neither inside the house nor outside, not at day nor at night, not on earth nor in the sky and not with any weapon. Hence Lord Vishnu took the form of half Lion and half human and killed the demon at dusk, with his nails, on the threshold of his house, keeping the demon on his thighs.
  • 5) Vamana: In Treta Yuga, Lord Vishnu incarnated himself as Brahmin to end the rule of the generous demon-king, Bali. The demon-king had forcefully captured three different worlds. When Lord Vishnu, a Brahmin asked for the land three feet of land. Bali agreed to give away his head after he realised that it was Lord Vishnu. He was granted moksha after Vamana stepped over Bali’s head.
  • 6) Parashurama: Lord Vishnu took the form of a Brahmin to end the tyrannical rule of unrighteous kings and unchaste women. Parashurama prayed to Lord Shiva and acquired an axe which is used to terminate the race.
  • 7) Lord Rama: The famous Hindu mythology, Ramayana where the good prevailed over the evil saw the seventh form of Lord Vishnu. Appearing as King Rama, he defeated demon-king Ravana after a fierce battle
  • 8) Lord Balarama: In the ninth avatar of Lord Vishnu, he incarnated himself as Balarama, elder brother of Lord Krishna.
  • 9) Lord Krishna: Fundamental figure from another Hindu epic, Mahabharata, Lord Vishnu incarnated himself as Lord Krishna in the Dwapara Yuga for two significant events. In the first, Lord Krishna defeated his evil maternal uncle, Kansa. And in the second half, he was the mentor of the Pandavas during the battle of Kurukshetra.
  • 10) Kalki: It is believed that Lord Vishnu will appear on a white horse with a mighty sword in the present Yuga or the Kali Yuga and destroy the evil existing in mankind. Interestingly, it is also said that the entire cycle of four worlds will restart after Kali Yuga ends.
• If the legend is to be believed, Lord Hanuman visits Setuu Hanuman Bodhi temple located in the jungles of Piduru mountain, Sri Lanka. Most of the tribals in Sri Lanka are said to be Vibhishana’s descendants but this one particular tribe called ‘Mathangs’ is related to Lord Hanuman. People of this tribe claim that Lord Hanuman is immortal and visits them every 41 years. The people of this tribe consider Hanuman as their Guru who has supreme knowledge that shows them the right path. The Mathangs also maintain a ‘logbook’ where they record all the words spoken and ‘leelas’ performed by Lord Hanuman. A Sri Lankan organization called Setuu is studying this ‘logbook’ and also conduct programmes for Hanuman devotees who can do ‘Sadhna‘ under the guidance of Setuu masters. Devotees who qualify all the criteria will be eligible for Hanuman’s ‘sakshaat darshan‘.

---

Stories:

• Shani, the most dreaded planet in Astrology is nevertheless a very interesting phenomenon. Physically the planet Saturn represents Shani Dev. Shani is also the brother of Yama and is considered the god of justice. Some consider Shani as the incarnation of Lord Vishnu to distribute the results of good and bad deeds of people. Here is the most interesting story of Shani Dev’s birth: Shani’s siblings are born Sun god married Sandhya, who was a very faithful and devoted wife. She bore three children for sun god namely Vaivasvata Manu, Yama and Yami. Sandhya was a chaste and committed wife. However, she found it difficult to stay with her husband who is scorching hot all the time. Sandhya Dev creates Chaya: Out of her shadow, Sandhya created a lady Chaya who completely resembled her in every aspect. In fact, the literal meaning of the word Chaya is shadow. Sandhya handed over all her three children to Chaya and asked her to take care of sun god in her absence. Sandhya takes to penanceTo escape the heat of her husband sun god, Sandhya escaped from there and came to her father. Her father Daksha advised her to go back to her husband. However, Sandhya did not like this idea and therefore assumed the form of a horse and left to thick woods to do a severe penance. Shani Dev is born: Chaya was not playing the role of Sandhya without sun god’s knowledge. She bore three children to sun namely Manu, Shani and Tapti. When Shani was in her womb, she was totally lost in serving her husband that due to sun god’s heat the baby in the womb turned black. Therefore Shani was completely black at birth. Shani Dev casts an evil eye at his father: Upon Shani’s birth, sun god so eagerly looked at him only to be disappointed by Shani’s charcoal black color. He even doubted whether Shani was born to him. Shani’s first looks at his father drove sun god to an eclipse period and he deemed this as a bad luck. In fact, being angry at his father’s indifference, Shani cursed his father that he would also turn black in color which came true. So, right from his birth, there was a severe misunderstanding between sun god and Shani. Shani Dev becomes lame: Chaya was taking care of her children so lovingly. Chaya was an ardent devotee of Shiva. Once she was preparing food to offer to Lord Shiva. As a little child, Shani was very hungry and wanted food to be served. Chaya said he could eat only after the puja was done to Shiva. Shani got angry and kicked his mother. Due to this sin, Shani’s one leg became lame. Shani Dev is blessed by Shiva: When Shani was in the womb of his mother, Chaya devi was worshipping Shiva ardently. Therefore, Shani also developed devotion to Lord Shiva. When Shani was born and his father doubted his birth, Lord Shiva appeared before sun god and clarified the reason why Shani was black. Then both the father and son developed a good understanding for each other. Pleased by Shani’s devotion, Shiva made him god of justice to distribute the rewards and punishments for people’s actions. Ref article: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/religion/hindu-mythology/shani-dev-birth-story/articleshow/68206132.cms

• The only defeat which Lord Shiva had to endure was at the hands of Lord Krishna. An epic battle was fought between Lord Shiva and Lord Krishna in the city of Shonitpura, the capital of Banasura’s kingdom. The series of events of the battle is as follows: Lord Krishna’s grandson Aniruddha was in love with Banasura’s daughter Usha. However, Banasura disapproved his daughter’s love owing to the animosity he bore against Lord Krishna. Aniruddha went to Shohitpura on an occasion for visiting Usha. Rebuking him with harsh words, Banasura directly challenged him to a battle. Left with no other options, Aniruddha who was young and inexperienced in warfare, had to adorn himself with armour and arm guards. Ascending on the chariot by which he came from Dwarka, Aniruddha stationed himself in the battlefield outside Shonitpura. Soon Banasura approached the battlefield riding on a gigantic chariot driven by his charioteer Kumbhanda. The terrible battle ensued where Aniruddha fought valiantly much to Banasura’s surprise. Aniruddha fought with such prowess that Banasura was on the verge of complete defeat. Enraged with Aniruddha’s valour, Banasura had to apply maya and subdue him. After capturing Aniruddha in the battle, Banasura threw him inside the prison of Shonitpura. Lord Krishna discerned Banasura’s conduct and was extremely angry. Taking his Sharanga bow and Sudarshan Chakra, Lord Krishna emerged from the city of Dwarka. Balarama and Pradyumna too followed Lord Krishna. Sitting on Garuda, the trio flew towards Shonitpura. Banasura saw that Lord Krishna was descending. He prayed to Lord Shiva for assisting him in the battle that would soon ensue with Lord Krishna. The city of Shonitpura was protected him Lord Shiva and his son Kartikeya. Bound by their pledge to protect the city, both Lord Shiva and Kartikeya descended from Kailasha. Taking a large number of ghosts, goblins, pretas and pishachas, Lord Shiva marched to fight with Lord Krishna. Meanwhile Lord Krishna stationed himself in the battlefield along with Balarama and Pradyumna. While Banasura approached the battlefield along with Lord Shiva and Kartikeya. On seeing the ocean of Banasura’s soilders and the terrible looking followers of Lord Shiva, Balarama and Pradyumna lost heart before the commencement of the battle. However Lord Krishna assured them of victory and soon the dreadful battle commenced. Lord Shiva sent his ghosts, goblins, pretas and pishachas to capture Lord Krishna. Wielding the invincible Sharanga bow, Lord Krishna smiled the drove away the followers of Lord Shiva with his shower of arrows. In another part of the battlefield, Balarama wielding his mace and Pradyumna wielding a large bow fought with Banasura’s soilders. On seeing his intention rendered unsuccessful by Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva then sent his son Kartikeya to subdue Lord Krishna. Riding on his peacock, Kartikeya attacked Lord Krishna, Balarama and Pradyumna. On seeing him descending on his peacock, Garuda flew and counter attacked Kartikeya. Garuda scratched the peacock all over it’s body with his thick nails. Distressed with fear, the peacock left Kartikeya and flew away from the battlefield. Enraged with Garuda’s conduct, Kartikeya hurled a large golden javelin to kill him. However, Pradyumna came forward and severed that javelin with his arrows. A fight then ensued between the son of Lord Shiva and the son of Lord Krishna. Both Kartikeya and Pradyumna shot showers of arrows towards each other, enveloping the battlefield and shrouding the radiance of the Sun. After a long-drawn encounter, Pradyumna was able to prevail over Kartikeya. Unable to tolerate the speed of Pradyumna’s arrows anymore, Kartikeya left the battlefield and departed for Kailasha. Lord Shiva was extremely enraged and created Jvara, his fever personified form. Bowing before Lord Shiva, Jvara proceeded for Lord Krishna’s direction. On seeing Jvara descending, Pradyumna tried to counter it with his weapons. However, Jvara consumed all of Pradyumna’s weapons and entered his body. Weakening Lord Krishna’s son with fever, Jvara then descended upon Balarama. After paralysing Lord Krishna’s brother with fever, Jvara approached Lord Krishna. On seeing Jvara, Lord Krishna wasn’t distressed. Plucking a hair from his head and dashing it against the ground, Lord Krishna created his own Jvara. The Jvara of Lord Shiva’s body and the Jvara of Lord Krishna’s body clashed against each other. Lord Krishna closed his eyes and fixed his mind in meditation. Due to Lord Krishna’s steadfastness, the power of his Jvara increased. As a result of which Lord Krishna’s Jvara was able to prevail over Lord Shiva’s Jvara. Bowing before Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva’s Jvara disappeared from the battlefield. Lord Krishna then instructed his Jvara to merge with his body. Lord Shiva entered the battlefield riding on Nandi. Wielding his bow Pinaka, Lord Shiva shot innumerable blazing arrows towards Lord Krishna. Mounted on Garuda, Lord Krishna countered all the arrows of Lord Shiva. In order to annihilate Lord Krishna once and for all, Lord Shiva shot four lethal weapons, named Paishacha, Rakshasa, Roudra and Angiras. However, Lord Krishna countered them respectively with the weapons Vayavya, Savitra, Vasava and Mohana. Lord Krishna then picked up Vaishnavastra but Lord Shiva countered it with Pashupatastra. Lord Krishna smiled and realised that Lord Shiva was fighting not for himself, but for his pledge to protect Shonitpura. Standing on Garuda, Lord Krishna invoked a weapon known as Jrimbhana. Possessed by the power of that weapon, Lord Shiva swooned in the battlefield. On seeing Lord Shiva had been defeated, Banasura rushed towards Lord Krishna riding on a large chariot. A terrible fight again ensued. Banasura brought down innumerable blazing Chakras upon Lord Krishna’s head. Shooting arrows after arrows from Sharanga bow, Lord Krishna countered all of Banasura’s Chakras. With fumes of anger covering all his body, Lord Krishna summoned his Sudarshan Chakra. Banasura had one thousand arms. Wielding his Chakra, Lord Krishna severed nine hundred and ninety six arms of Banasura, leaving him with just four arms. Meanwhile, Lord Shiva arose and saw the plight of Banasura. In order to protect his devotee, Lord Shiva approached Lord Krishna. Both the lords happily embraced each other which signified the end of the battle. Lord Krishna pardoned Banasura and bowed before Lord Shiva. Banasura released Aniruddha from the prison and agreed to give his daughter’s hand in marriage to Aniruddha. Lord Krishna saw Pradyumna and Balarama lay in the battlefield, motionless and struck by fever. He uttered some mantras and cured the two of fever. Eventually Lord Krishna departed for Dwarka along with Balarama, Pradyumna and Aniruddha. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story 1: Shiva and the Bullock Cart: Sadhguru: It happened some three hundred years ago. There was a devotee in the southern regions of Karnataka whose mother was ageing. She wanted to go to Kashi and die in the lap of Vishvanath, the lap of Shiva. She had never asked for anything in her life but this one thing, she requested from her son. She said, “Please take me to Kashi. I’m getting old. I want to go there and die.” The man took this old mother and started walking through the jungles from southern Karnataka to Kashi – a long distance. Being an old lady, the mother fell ill. So he carried her on his shoulder and obviously he was soon sapped of energy. The only way he could keep himself going was by pleading, “Shiva, please do not let me fail in this one endeavor. This is one thing that my mother asked, let me fulfill this. I want to take her to Kashi. We are only coming there for you. Please give me the strength.” Then as he was walking, he heard a bell, like when a bullock cart comes behind you. He saw a bullock cart drawn by a single bull coming out of the mist, which was strange because in that region, you will see a single bull pulling a cart only when it is travelling a short distance. When the travel is over long distances, through forests, it is always two bulls. But when you are so tired, you do not care about these nuances. As the cart came closer, he could not see the face of the driver as the driver was cloaked and it was misty. The man said, “Please, my mother is not well. Could we can ride on your empty cart?” The man nodded. Both of them got on and the cart traveled on. After sometime, the man noticed it was too smooth a ride for a forest track. Then he looked down and noticed that the cart wheels were not turning. They were still. But the cart was moving! Then he looked at the bull. The bull was sitting and still the cart was going. Then he looked at the driver. Only the cloak was visible. There was no man. He looked at his mother. The mother said, “You fool, we are already there. There is no need to go anywhere. This is the place, let me go.” And the mother left her body there. The bull, the cart and the driver vanished! The man returned to his village. People thought, “He has come back so soon. He must have dumped his mother somewhere. He did not take her to Kashi.” They asked him, “Where did you dump your mother?” He said “No, we did not have to go, Shiva came for us.” They said “Rubbish!” He said, “It does not matter what you think. He came for us and that is all. My life is lit. I know that within myself. If you do not know. it is up to you.” Then they asked, “Okay, then show us something. Somehow show it to us that you actually saw Shiva. That he came for you.” He said, “I do not know because I did not see him. I only saw a cloak and there was no face. There was nothing, it was empty.” Then everyone suddenly noticed that this man was not there. They saw only his clothes. He became a great sage in South India. Wherever he went, people recognized him as an empty face. Story 2: Malla: A Shiva Devotee and a Thief: Sadhguru: Let me tell you of one yogi who lived very close to the place where I was born. I had heard about this person and the phenomena that happened there, but as a youth I did not pay much attention to it. It sort of gave me a kick, but I did not give much more importance to it at that time. There was a devotee who lived about 16 kilometers from Mysore, on the outskirts of the now-famous Nanjangud. His name was Malla. Malla did not belong to any tradition or know any formal way of worship or meditation. But right from his childhood, if he closed his eyes, he only saw the image of Shiva. Maybe a devotee is not a good enough word for him. There are millions like him. They are prisoners of Shiva. They have no choice. Maybe I also got trapped by him. We did not seek him – too arrogant to seek anything, but trapped by him. Shiva was a hunter. He snared not just animals but human beings too. This was one more. Malla knew nothing but Shiva. He did not learn any particular trade or craft and he grew wild. It did not occur to him that it would be wrong if he stopped someone and took whatever he needed from them. So he did just that, and got branded as a bandit. He became a regular bandit on the forest pathway which people had to use. The place where he used to collect his “toll” came to be known as Kallanamoolai, which means “a thief’s corner.” Initially people cursed him, but when the end of the year came, every paisa that he had collected from people was spent on celebrating Mahashivratri. He threw a huge party! So after a few years, people recognized him as a great devotee and started contributing voluntarily. Those who did not contribute voluntarily, he had no qualms about encouraging them! A few years later, two yogis who happened to be brothers came this way, and saw this man who was a bandit but a great devotee. They told him, “Your devotion is fantastic, but your ways are hurting people.” He said, “I am only doing it for Shiva, what is the problem?” They convinced him, took him aside and put him into other systems, and renamed the place from Kallanamoolai to Mallanamoolai. Even today it is called Mallanamoolai. And the Mahashivratri event that he celebrated evolved into a big institution in that place. Within about a year-and-a-half from the time he gave up his banditry and sat with these yogis, he attained Mahasamadhi. After they released him like this, these two yogis also sat down and left their body on the same day. Today there is a very beautiful shrine built for these people, still called Mallanamoolai, on the bank of river Kabini. Story 3: How Kubera Became Shiva’s “Greatest” Devotee: Sadhguru: Kubera was the king of Yakshas. Yakshas are intermediate life – they are neither life here nor have they become afterlife – they are intermediate. The story goes that Ravana expelled Kubera from Lanka, and Kubera had to flee to the mainland. Out of desperation for his lost kingdom and people, he started worshipping Shiva and became a Shiva bhakta – a devotee of Shiva. Shiva, out of his compassion, gave him another kingdom and all the wealth in the world and Kubera became the richest being in the world. Wealth means Kubera – that’s how it is seen. Kubera became a great devotee and when a devotee begins to feel that he is a great devotee, he has lost everything. Kubera started to feel that he was a great devotee because he was making such enormous amounts of offerings to Shiva. Shiva of course never picked up anything, except the sacred ash that was offered to him. But Kubera felt like a great devotee because he was offering so much. One day, Kubera came to Shiva and said, “What can I do for you? I want to do something for you.” Shiva said, “Oh, you cannot do anything for me. What can you do for me? Because I don’t need anything, I’m fine. But take my son.” He showed Ganapati and said, “This boy is always hungry. Feed him well.” Kubera said, “That’s no problem,” and took Ganapati for lunch. They served him, he ate and ate and ate. They kept serving him and he kept eating. Kubera hired hundreds of cooks and started cooking enormous amounts of food. They served all this food and he kept eating. Kubera was alarmed. “Stop it!” he said. “If you eat like this, your belly will burst.” Ganapati said, “Don’t you worry. See I have this snake as my belt. You don’t have to worry about my belly. I’m hungry. Serve me. You were the one who said you’ll take care of my hunger!” Kubera spent all his wealth. They say he sent people to other worlds to buy food, and they served food. But Ganapati just ate and said, “I am not yet full, where is more food?” Then Kubera realized the smallness of his mind and bowed down to Shiva, “My riches, I know, are not equal to the speck of dust for you. I made the mistake of thinking I am a great devotee, just giving back a little of what you have already given to me.” And his life moved in a different direction from that moment. Story 4: Shiva as Ardhanari and Brighu Maharishi: Sadhguru: When we say Yoga, we are not talking about a particular exercise or a technique. We are talking about the very science of creation and how to take this piece of creation to its ultimate possibility. We are talking about a science and a technology through which we can make every aspect of our life into an ultimate possibility. When Shiva started transmitting Yoga and expounding the nature of the existence to the Saptarishis or seven sages, a beautiful incident happened. One of the seven sages who later came to be known as Brighu Maharishi was an ardent devotee of Shiva. To this first Yoga program that was happening on the banks of Kanti Sarovar, the lake of Grace, Parvati was also a witness. Brighu as usual came in the morning and he wanted to circumambulate Shiva. Parvati was sitting close by, but Brighu walked between them and circumambulated only Shiva. He wanted to do his Pradakshina only to Shiva, not Parvati. Shiva was amused by this but Parvati was not amused. She did not like this. She looked at Shiva, Shiva said, “Move closer, he will go around you.” Parvati moved closer. Brighu saw there was not enough space for him to go around Shiva alone, so he converted himself into a mouse and went around Shiva alone, excluding Parvati from the circumambulation. Parvati was very irritated by this. Then to please her, Shiva took Parvati and placed her upon his lap. Brighu converted himself into a tiny bird and went around just Shiva alone excluding Parvati. By now Parvati was fuming, so Shiva pulled her into himself and made her a part of himself, that is one part of him became Parvati, another part of him remained Shiva. He became an Ardhanari. Brighu saw this and converted himself into a bee and went around only the right leg. This childish devotion of Brighu was amusing, but at the same time, Shiva did not want Brighu to be lost in his devotion and miss the ultimate nature of the existence. So he got into the Yogic posture of Siddhasana where there was no way for him to circumambulate his leg or any other part of his body. If he has to do it, he has to do it for both these principles of feminine and masculine. What this story is conveying is that when we say Yoga, we are talking about a dimension which is all-inclusive. It is not an exercise or a process for creating health. It is about ultimate wellbeing of the human being in which you cannot exclude any aspect of life. It is about attaining to a dimension beyond all dimensions. It is about a system to use your own existing system – your body, mind, emotion and energies – as a ladder to the divine. It is a method to make yourself into a stepping stone towards your ultimate nature. Ref article: https://isha.sadhguru.org/mahashivratri/shiva/mahashivratri-stories/

• Story: The Greatest God In The Universe Brahma Vishnu and Maheshwara: One day, Lord Brahma and Lord Vishnu got into a heated argument. They both claimed to be the greatest god in the Universe. Lord Brahma said, “I have created everything on earth thus, I am the most powerful god.” Lord Vishnu replied, “But I am the preserver of all your creations. Thus, I am the greatest.” As they continued arguing, a fiery lingam erupted from the earth between them. It stretched higher, without any end in sight. Both Lord Vishnu and Lord Brahma stared at it, trying to figure out its origin and end. They both decided to find it out for themselves, and wagered that they will figure out the mystery before the other one. Lord Vishnu transformed into a wild boar and stared digging into the earth to find the lingam’s origins. Lord Brahma transformed himself into a swan and flew up to find its end. Lord Vishnu went on digging into the earth, but was unable to find the lingam’s origins. He gave up and emerged from the earth, defeated. Lord Brahma flew high, but was nowhere near finding the top end of the lingam. He saw a ketaki flower on his way, and carried it in his beak, back to earth. He met Lord Vishnu and showed him the flower, claiming that he saw it on top of the lingam. Suddenly, the sky reverberated with thunderstorms, and Lord Shiva came forth from the lingam. He pointed at Lord Brahma and said, “You are lying! Because of the sin, I curse you that no one will worship you celebrate your festivals or build your temples.” He further banished the use of ketaki flower from being used in his worship. He turned to Lord Vishnu and said, “You have been honest and humble. Thus, you shall be worshipped, festivals will be celebrated in your honour and temple will be built for you on earth.” Lord Brahma was ashamed of his act, and asked for forgiveness. He and Lord Vishnu bowed down in front of Lord Shiva, conceding defeat and accepting Lord Shiva as the greatest god in the Universe. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story: Lord Shiva and Sati: Daksha, Lord Brahma’s wish-born son, a prajapati (Lord of creatures), was entrusted with the duty to populate the Universe. He with his wife, Prastuti, had many daughters who were married off to gods and sages. Sati, his youngest daughter, was his favourite. Sati was the reincarnation of Ardhashakti, or the better half of Lord Shiva which he had sacrificed to maintain the balance in the Universe and was thus, destined to marry Lord Shiva. But Daksha detested him and his hermetic lifestyle. Sati grew up to be the most beautiful maiden in the entire Universe, and there were innumerable suitors who wanted her hand in marriage. Sati, determined to fulfill her destiny, went to the Himalayas to meditate and appease Lord Shiva. Pleased with her devotion, he agreed to marry her at once. All the gods attended their wedding. Daksha did not approve of the marriage, but reluctantly gave his consent. After the wedding, Lord Shiva and Goddess Sati made Mount Kailash their abode and led a happy married life. Daksha felt insulted as he had to accept a hermetic Lord Shiva as his son-in-law and decided to avenge his pride. Soon after, he organised a grand yagna (ritual sacrifice) and invited all the gods except Lord Shiva. When Goddess Sati found out about the yagna, she was furious at her father. She requested Lord Shiva to participate in it, but he refused. Goddess Sati was determined to confront her father. She said, “I am his daughter, and he owes me an explanation. He cannot stop me from being welcomed to my own home.” Lord Shiva, sensing trouble, tried to stop goddess Sati, but she would not listen to any warning. When Goddess Sati arrived at her father’s house, Daksha welcomed her coldly. He then proceeded to insult her husband in front of the guests. Enraged at her father’s behaviour, a furious Goddess Sati declared that she would not tolerate any insult of her husband. Invoking a sacrificial fire, Goddess Sati sacrificed herself. Lord Shiva was furious after learning about Sati’s death. Unable to control his anger, he brought forth superior beings Virabhadra and Bhadrakali, to behead Daksha. Even though many gods tried to help Daksha, Virabhadra and Bhadrakali destroyed his army and beheaded him. Lord Brahma pleaded to Lord Shiva for his son’s life and asked for forgiveness for his behaviour. Lord Shiva calmed down, and revived Daksha by replacing his head with a goat’s head. He placed Goddess Sati’s body on his shoulder and started walking through the Universe, neglecting his duties. The gods were very concerned and approached Lord Vishnu to help restore balance in the Universe. Lord Vishnu used his sudarshan chakra (a celestial weapon) to cut Sati’s body to pieces, which fell on earth. The total number of body pieces were 52, and they fell on 52 different places. All these places are known as holy 52 Shakti pithas in Hindu religion, and there is a Kali or Shakti temple in each of them. Lord Shiva returned to Mount Kailash to meditate and mourn his wife’s death. Goddess sati eventually returned to Lord Shiva by taking birth as Parvati. So Goddess Sati took birth again on earth as the daughter of King Himavat and Queen Mena. They named her Parvati. Narad Muni came to look at the baby and declared she is destined to marry Shiva. While growing up, she would lose herself thinking about Lord Shiva. When she was of marriageable age, she went to the Himalayas to perform penance and appease Lord Shiva and marry him. Lord Shiva was impressed by her devotion and knew about her desire, but he was still in mourning for Goddess Sati. He asked Parvati to serve him as the dasi, as he thought that the rough life will dissuade her. Parvati was pleased to serve him and stayed with him for many years. Meanwhile, the gods and people were being terrorised by the demon, Taraka. When they approached Lord Brahma for help, he said that Lord Shiva and Parvati’s son will kill the demon. As the gods were getting restless, they decided to help Parvati win Lord Shiva’s affection. They sent Lord Kama, the god of love, to Mount Kailash. He saw Parvati at Lord Shiva’s feet, sowing a garland. He immediately aimed an arrow at them which struck Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva opened his eyes and fell in love with Parvati. But he suddenly realised that Lord Kama has played a trick with him. He banished Parvati from his abode. Undeterred, Parvati performed severe penance for years. Finally she remembered her pervious life and realised that she is none other than the reincarnation of Goddess Sati. When Lord Shiva sensed that as well, he decided to test her. One day, an old brahmin approached Parvati and asked her, “Why are you performing severe penance, my dear? What do you wish to attain?” Parvati told him about her desire to marry Lord Shiva. The brahmin cringed and asked, “Why would a beautiful maiden like you want to marry someone who covers his body with ash and wears tiger skin?” Parvati was furious and replied, “What do you know about him? I am the reincarnation of Goddess Sati, his other half. We are incomplete without each other.” Suddenly, Lord Shiva revealed his true from to her and consented to marry her. The gods came down from heaven to attend the grand wedding of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. They retired to Mount Kailash to lead a happy married life. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story: Shiva’s Divine Dance: Long ago, the sages in Taragam forest performed severe penances to achieve great powers. Soon, they began to think that they were stronger than gods and started creating havoc on earth. When Lord Shiva heard about them, he appealed to Lord Vishnu and said, “We need to do something to stop them.” Lord Vishnu agreed and they made a plan. Lord Shiva took the form of a young, handsome sage, while Lord Vishnu disguised himself as a beautiful maiden, Mohini. Together, they went to the Taragam forest and approached the sages. The sages looked at Mohini and immediately fell in love with her dazzling beauty. Their wives were equally enamoured with the young sage. After some time, the sages woke up from their stupor and realised that someone was playing a joke on them. This enraged them immensely and decided to take revenge. The sages started to perform yagnas. The young sage was amused by the turn of events and stood beside them to witness the spectacle. Within moments, an angry tiger leapt out of the fire and pounced on the young sage. But with a smile on his lips, the sage merely grabbed the tiger in mid air and crushed it effortlessly. He ripped off the tiger’s skin and placed it around his waist. The sages could not believe what they saw. Nevertheless, they carried on with their yagna, and a fiery serpent sprang out of the fire. The young sage caught the serpent and coiled it around his neck. Next the sages brought froth an evil demon dwarf, Mulayaka, from the fire. The demon charged at the young sage. Lord Shiva resumed his true from, and without any difficulty, crushed Mulayaka to its death with his feet. On realising that the rage of the sages is not diminishing. Lord Shiva started dancing, accompanied by celestial music. His enthralling performance pacified the sages, and the world stopped to watch him dance. The beat of his damru became the heartbeat of the world, the celestial water flowing from his tresses illuminated his body and his body engulfed the whole cosmos. Such was Lord Shiva’s dance that it became symbolic of all the natural laws of the world, expressed beautifully. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story: Parvati As The FisherWoman: Lord Shiva, one day decided to tell Goddess Parvati about Brahmadayana, or the mysteries of the Universe. She was very eager to learn, as she knew that only he knew everything about it. Days turned to months and months to years, and Goddess Parvati listened with unfailing attention, as Lord Shiva expounded the mysteries to her. After several years, there was still no end in sight of Lord Shiva’s lessons. Just for a moment, Parvati lost her focus and started admiring the scenery around her. When Lord Shiva noticed that Goddess Parvati was distracted, he became very furious. He yelled, “Ungrateful woman! There are millions who would do anything to hear me speak of Brahmadayana, but you refuse to concentrate. You should be born amongst the fisher folk so that you learn about hard work. They know that they cannot afford to think about anything else.” As soon as Lord Shiva uttered those words, poof! Parvati disappeared from his side. Lord Shiva regretted uttering the harsh words. He lamented, “What have I done? How am I supposed to stay happy without you by my side?” Meanwhile, as Lord Shiva wanted, Goddess Parvati was born as a baby girl on earth. She lay sheltered under a large Punnai tree. When the chief of the Paravars, a clan of fishermen, found the tree, he picked her up and said, “The heavens have blessed me! I shall bring her up as my own daughter.” He took her to his house, and named her Parvati. Parvati grew up to a lovely girl, and she was adored by everyone. She would always accompany her father on his fishing expeditions and soon she mastered the art of rowing a boat and also netting the fish in the water. Lord Shiva was unable to bear the separation from Goddess Parvati and was pining away for her. When Nandi, Lord Shiva’s most loyal servant, saw his master in state of despair, he asked “My Lord! Why don’t you bring back Goddess Parvati? You know she is living with the Paravars clan. There must be something that you can do to bring her back to Mount Kailash.” “There is nothing I can do,” explained Lord Shiva, “As per the law of the world, she will have to marry a fisherman in this birth.” Nandi was adamant to unite his master so he took the form of a giant shark and swam to the coast near the Paravars clan. There he saw two fisher man boats and swam towards them. The fishermen panicked on seeing him and tried to row back to the coast, but the shark capsized their boats. For the next few days, Nandi created havoc. He crushed their boats to smithereens, and tore their nets to shreds. He however made sure though that no innocent lives were lost in his quest to return Goddess Parvati to Lord Shiva. The Chief of the Paravars made an announcement before his people, “I shall give the hand of my daughter to the person who can capture the shark.” Many valiant young men came forward, but Nandi made sure that no one succeeded and continued with his destruction. Distraught that no one was able to catch the shark the chief along with his daughter started praying to Lord Shiva. Disguising himself as a young fisherman, Shiva approached the chief. “I have heard that a shark is bothering you, so I have come to hunt it down.” As the Chief and his fishermen stood by the shores, the young fisherman waded into the water with a net in his hand and caught the giant fish. Nandi recognized his master and allowed him to drag him to the shore. The clan rejoiced at the end of their troubles and Parvati wedded the young fisherman. After the wedding, Lord Shiva resumed his true from and returned happily to Mount Kailash with his wife. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story: Arjuna’s Penance Lord Shiva and Arjuna: Mount Indrakila, in the mighty Himalayas, was a tranquil abode to many sages who conducted prayers and performed severe penances the gods. One day, the sages saw a stranger walking towards their abode. They noticed that even though the stranger was wearing sage’s saffron clothes, he looked nothing like one. He was tall, well-built and was carrying weapons. On seeing the golden hilt of the sword, they recognized the stranger to be the Pandava prince, Arjuna. One of the sages whispered, “The Pandavas were banished from their kingdom, after losing a game of dice with Duryodhana. But what is Prince Arjuna doing here?” Arjuna walked silently to a secluded spot and sat down to make a lingam from mud to perform severe penances to Lord Shiva. He didn’t stop his penance for anything. After a few months, the earth around him was unable to bear the heat of his penance and started emanating black smoke around him. The smoke spread throughout Mount Indrakila, and the sages fled to Mount Kailash. They approached Lord Shiva, who was sitting beside Goddess Parvati, and pleaded to intervene. Lord Shiva smiled and replied, “Please go back to Mount Indrakila. I will resolve your problem.” After the sages left, Lord Shiva could see doubts clouding the Goddess Parvati’s’ face. He asked her, “What is troubling you? Don’t hesitate to ask.” Goddess Parvati asked him, “Why is Arjuna performing such severe penance?” He replied, “Because he wants blessed weapons for the impending war.” She still had her doubts and asked, “Do you believe that he will use the weapons wisely and judiciously?” “Well, we will have to find that out,” he replied. Lord Shiva told her about his plan to test Arjuna. He disguised himself as a Kirata Chief (Kirata is a clan of mountain dwellers), and asked Goddess Parvati and some of his followers to dress up as Kirata women. When they were nearing Mount Indrakila, Goddess Parvati pointed at a wild boar at some distance and said, “That does not look like an ordinary boar.” Lord Shiva looked at it and said, “You are right. That looks like the asura, Muka. He seems to heading towards the sages to disrupt their prayers.” Lord Shiva took an aim at the demon with his bow and arrow, but the demon sensed the presence of Lord Shiva and fled. Lord Shiva chased him to the sage’s abode, and as soon as the sages saw the boar charging towards them they started running, screaming for help. Muka ran to the spot where Arjuna was performing his penance. Arjuna sensed the boar’s presence and opened his eyes. He took up his bow and arrow to kill it. When Lord Shiva also reached the spot, he said, “stop! That is my prey. You cannot kill it.” Arjuna was not able to recognize Lord Shiva in disguise and replied, “I will not put down my bow. If you are a true hunter take your aim and kill it.” Both shot their arrows at the boar. As soon as arrows pierced, the animal resumed its original demonic self and died. The Kirata women watching the demon fall down to his death, started dancing and celebrating. But it was not clear who had struck the boar first, and neither party was ready to concede defeat. The Kirata women argued, “He is lying, O chief! You killed the boar before him.” Arjuna did not like to be insulted so challenged the Kirata chief for a duel. Soon, arrows started flying between Arjuna and Lord Shiva. They hurled their best arrows at each other, but neither of them was hurt. Suddenly, Arjuna realised that his quiver of arrows was over. Lord Shiva smiled at him and offered, “You can borrow some arrows from me.” Hearing this, the Kirata women started mocking Arjuna. Arjuna angrily threw his bow at the hunter, who caught it, tore the string and flung it away. Not able to control his anger, Arjuna took his sword, and charged him with all his might. The sword dissolved into flowers as it struck the hunter. Everyone was surprised to see the miracle, and the Kirata women cheered their chief. Refusing to lose, Arjuna picked up a tree with his bare hands and hurled it at the hunter, who dodged it easily. Unable to concede defeat, he decided to pray to Lord Shiva for strength. He sat down in front of the lingam and started chanting “Om Namah Shivaya” and placed a garland on the lingam. Soon, he felt strength infuse his body. Happy that his prayers had been heard, he turned towards the Kirata hunter and said, “Load Shiva had blessed me with strength. Come, let’s see who wins now.” But as he saw the lingam was lying around the hunter’s neck. When Arjuna realised that the Kirata chief was none other than Lord Shiva in disguise, he bowed in front of him and said, “Please pardon me, Lord. I didn’t know who I was fighting.” Lord Shiva replied, “O valiant prince, you have appeased me with your devotion. I grant you this Pashupata, the blessed arrow to aid you in your war.” Years later, during Mahabharata, Arjuna used the Pashupata arrow to defeat Karna. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story: Markandeya Markandeya: Sage Mrikandu and his wife Marudvati were devout devotees of Lord Shiva. They were happily married but childless. They decided to perform penance to Lord Shiva to pray for a child. Impressed by their devotion, Lord Shiva appeared before them and said, “You can ask for anything you want.” Mrikandu asked for a child and Marudvati asked for a blessed child. Surprised by the differences in their replies, Lord Shiva smiled and asked, “Do you wish for an ordinary child who will live longer or a gifted child who will live for only sixteen years?” After a moment’s thought, Marudvati replied, “Bless us with a gifted child. Even though he will live for sixteen years, we will have fond memories of him for the rest of our lives.” Her husband agreed with her, and Lord Shiva blessed them and disappeared. In due course, Marudvati gave birth to a son, who was named Markandeya. He grew up to be an exceptionally gifted child. He knew all the Vedas by heart, and mastered Mahamrityunjaya Mantra. The mantra is addressed to Lord Shiva to ward off untimely death or attain immortality. His parents loved him a lot, but Markandeya sensed sadness in them. When he asked them about it, sage Mrikandu told him about the story of his birth. After listening to it, he understood the reason of their sadness. He promised them that he will find a solution to their problem. As Markandeya’s sixteenth birthday approached, his mother was inconsolable. He consoled her and said, “Mother, don’t worry. I will pray to Lord Shiva and everything will be fine.” The night he was to turn sixteen, Markandeya started reciting the Mahamrityunjaya mantra in front of a lingam. The God of Death Yama saw this, but he knew that Markandeya’s time on earth was over. He sent two of his servants to bring Markandeya, but the heat emanating from him threw back the servants. Yama then decided to bring Markandeya himself. When he approached the praying Markandeya, he shook him violently. Markandeya opened his eyes and pleaded, “I have not finished my prayer to Lord Shiva. Please don’t take me away until it’s over.” Yama grew impatient and coiled a rope and threw it at Markandeya. The noose fell on Markandeya and the lingam. As Yama tightened the noose, an angry Lord Shiva made an appearance. He struck Yama and killed him. The other gods became very concerned about this. They all approached Lord Shiva and begged him to revive Yama. They explained that without Yama there will be no deaths and people will live for forever, which will create many problems. Lord Shiva relented and revived Yama. Yama thanked Lord Shiva and enquired about Markandeya, to which Lord Shiva replied, “Markandeya will live forever.” Saying so, he blessed the child. As the myth says, Markandeya can still be seen sometimes, trapped in his sixteen years old body, singing the glories of Lord Shiva. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story: Lord Shiva, Parvati and Andakasura: One day Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati were spending a pleasant day in their abode. Goddess Parvati playfully covered Lord Shiva’s eyes with her hands. Suddenly, darkness descended on earth, and her hands started perspiring. The sweat fell on the ground, and a child was born, blind. When Goddess Parvati removed her hands form Lord Shiva’s eyes, light was restored on earth. The couple decided to give the child to Hiranyaksha, a Daitya king, who was childless and was praying for a son. Hiranyaksha adopted the child as his son and named him, Andhaka. When he grew up, he was crowned the king. Andhakasura, as he came to be known, performed sever penances to Lord Brahma. Impressed by his devotion, Lord Brahma asked him, “What do you wish for?” Andhakasura asked him for victories throughout his life and immortality. Lord Brahma granted him the first boon, and added, “I will not be able to grant you immortality as death is inevitable part of life.” He instead blessed him that he will die when he will seek the unattainable. Andhakasura, armed and protected by the blessing of Lord Brahma, raged a vicious war against the gods. The gods were powerless in front of his powers and sought Lord Shiva’s help. Lord Shiva, after hearing their pleas, decided to intervene and defeat Andhakasura. When Andhakasura heard that Lord Shiva had decided to fight in the war, he was enraged. He gathered all his trusted and mighty warriors and sent them to the war. Needless to say, Lord Shiva killed all the demons and proceeded to fight Andhakasura. Andhakasura and Lord Shiva started fighting, but Andhakasura soon realised that he was no match for Lord Shiva. He fled and hid himself in Goddess Parvati’s chambers, with the intention to abduct her and teach Lord Shiva a lesson. This angered Lord Shiva so much that he struck his trident at him. As soon as the blood flowed out of Andhakasura’s body and fell on the ground, thousand more demons took birth. Lord Vishnu was watching the war from a distance. When he saw the situation getting out of hands, he intervened and used his sudarshan chakra to kill the demons born out of Andhakasura’s blood. Finally, Lord Shiva struck Andhakasura with his trident, and held him up for thousand years. Lord Shiva collected his blood, so as to avoid the birth of more demons form Andhakasura. After being suspended on Lord Shiva’s trident for over thousand years, Andhakasura realised his mistake and sought forgiveness form Lord Shiva. Finally, peace reigned again on earth and the heavens. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Tripura - The Three Magical Cities in Three Different Plains: After Kartikeya, son of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati killed the demon king Taraka, his kingdom fell apart. His sons, Tarakaksha, Vidyunmali and Kamalaksha, began to perform severe penances to appease Lord Brahma. After a few years, a pleased Lord Brahma approached them and said, “Your devotion pleases me immensely. Ask me for any boon you want.” The demons asked him to aid them in building three indestructible cities for them. Lord Brahma replied, “Nothing in this world stays forever. However, the three cities will be safe and strong, and will only be destroyed with one arrow.” The chief architect of the demons, Maya, planned and built the cities. Three floating cities were built - the one on earth was made of iron, the one in the sky was made of gold. The three cities were collectively called Tripura. The three cities would float apart from each other, but once in every thousand years, they would align in a single line with the Pushya star and the moon. This phenomenon would last for only a split second. After some time, the demons were not content with living peacefully and decided to lay siege all over the Universe. Maya sensing the impending doom, started to perform penance to appease the gods. The gods sought Lord Shiva’s help in turn. Lord Shiva assured them that he would reduce the three cities to ashes if the demons refused to stop their villainous ways. Assured that Lord Shiva will fight the demons, the gods attacked the demons with more vigour. So fierce was the fight that the earth slipped from its position and began falling. Lord Vishnu turned into a bull to push back the earth and hold it in its rightful place. The demons grew very concerned on the day when Lord Shiva was supposed to enter the battlefield. They made several plans to keep him diverted. They knew that if anyone can destroy their cities, it will be Lord Shiva. Lord Shiva finally arrived on the battleground, raised his bow and arrow to strike the cities. The arrow split the three cities in one go, as it was the moment of alignment, reducing Maya’s splendid cities to dust and ashes. The demons too perished along with their magnificent cities, finally restoring peace in the Universe. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• How shiva became Neelkanth or the Blue Throat-ed: There was a battle between the gods, and the demons in which, the demons, led by King Bali, won and started ruling the Universe. After being defe3ated in the battle, the gods lost their powers and energy. They approached Lord Vishnu who advised them to tactfully join hands with the demons and churn the ocean to extract the nectar which will restore their powers and energy. He assured them that he will preside over the event to make sure that the gods receive the nectar. The ocean was churned using Mount Mandarachala as the churning rod, and Vasuki, the king of serpents, was used as the churning rope. The demons held the head of the snake, while the gods, on the advice of Lord Vishnu, held its tail. The gods and demons pulled back and forth on the snake’s body alternately, causing the mountain to rotate, which in turn churned the ocean. However, once the mountain was placed on the bed of the ocean, it began to sink. Vishnu, in his second incarnation as a turtle, Kurma, came to their rescue and supported the mountain on his back. During the churning of the ocean or Samudra Manthan, a dangerous poison, Halahala, emitted from the ocean. This terrified the gods and demons because the poison was so toxic that it would have destroyed all of creation. Lord Vishnu told the gods that only Lord Shiva could save them from the destruction. Lord Shiva on hearing the pleas of the gods decided to swallow the poison. Goddess Parvati panicked, but he assured her that he won’t die of the poison. He stored the poison in his throat, which turned blue. Thus Lord Shiva is also known as Neelkantha, the one with blue throat. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• How did Lord Ram end his avatar?: Lord Ram is the 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu, Greatest of all, the Maryada Purushottam, the Legendary Warrior, killer of the Great Kumbhakaran and Ravan, the Great Son, the Great Husband, the Great Brother, the Great King and the Great Lord. He took the human form and came to Earth in Treta Yug to teach humans about how to live a life with great morals and principles. He did many great deeds and taught us many things while being on Earth. His rule as a king is known as Ram Rajya which is a paradigm of ruling a kingdom. When Mata Sita took Earth Mausoleum(Dharti Samadhi) and went back to Vaikuntha, Ram was left alone on the planet. His life’s purpose and goals were fulfilled for which he took incarnation. So, Kala took the form of a sage and went to Ayodhya to meet Ram. He met Ram and asked him to talk privately without anyone disturbing them. He put a condition in front of Ram that if anyone disturbs them while their conversation, then Lord Ram has to order a death sentence to that person. Upon which Lord Ram accepted and appointed Laxman as the watchman. Kala came back to his real form and started confronting Ram about the message of Lord Brahma about his completion of Life’s purpose and to return Vaikuntha. Later Rishi Durvasa who is a great sage and famous for his anger and curse came to Ayodhya to meet Ram. When he was entering the premises, Laxman greeted him and asked him to wait as Lord Ram was already in a meeting. Due to this Rishi Durvasa started becoming angry and started threatening about cursing Ayodhya for this deed. Laxman didn’t wanted this so he went inside to inform Ram about the visit of Rishi Durvasa even after knowing what would happen to him to save his kingdom from curse. When he entered, he saw Kala in his real form who got shocked to see Laxman and vanished on seeing him. He informed Ram about the visit of Rishi Durvasa. But Ram became very sad as he was bound to follow the oath he took before meeting Kala. He discussed this with his ministers in court and decided to expell Laxman from Ayodhya forever and ordered him to live his remaining life in forest away from world. This punishment was treated equal to death sentence. But Laxman didn’t wanted to live away from his brother and Lord Ram and later took water mausoleum(Jal Samadhi). When Ram got to know about it, he too decided that he wont live on Earth anymore after his wife and brother left him and decided to end his life. Before ending his life, he divided his kingdom in four parts and handed over a part of his kingdom to his sons Luv and Kush and remaing three parts to his brothers Bharat, Laxman and Shatrughn sons. After that he too took water mausoleum(Jal Samadhi) in the river Sarayu along with many of his followers taking the same with him. He went back to Vaikuntha after ending his human form where Goddess Laxmi(Mata Sita) and Sheshnag(Laxman) were waiting for him already. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• The Birth of Krishna: King Kamsa of Mathura was a tyrant and an evil king. It was prophesied that Kamsa would be killed by the eight child born to his sister Devaki and her husband. Vasudeva. Kamsa imprisoned both of them and ensured that each of their newborns were eliminated on the day of their births. Krishna was born as the eighth son to Devaki and Vasudeva. The night Krishna was born, a divine voice directed Vasudeva to smuggle the new born out of the prison and take him to his friend’s house in Gokul and exchange his son with his friend’s new born girl. He is assured that his son would have a safe upbringing in Gokul. Vasudeva follows the instruction and safely delivers the new born to Gokul and get’s his friend’s new born daughter to the prison. Kamsa thinks that the eighth child, born to his sister, is not a boy but a girl. Nevertheless, he decides to eliminate the girl but is unable to do so as the new born girl was an incarnation of Goddess Durga. Kamsa finds out that the child destined to kill him is safe and out of his reach. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• (1) Duryodhana’s Wife Becomes a Krishna Devotee: Sadhguru: Bhanumati was Duryodhana’s wife. She was an extremely beautiful girl and was only seventeen when Krishna was Duryodhana’s guest in the palace. Duryodhana hatched a plot to get Krishna a little drunk and get some kind of commitment from him. He made all kinds of arrangements and made sure a sufficient amount of wine was at the party. Duryodhana’s friends came and everyone drank too much, and they all went out of control. But Krishna maintained his cool and went about charming everyone. In this whole enthusiasm, Bhanumati also consumed more than she should. She was a young girl and was not used to these things, and she became very tipsy. After some time, everyone got really tipsy and things went out of control. Bhanumati lost control over herself. She just fell on Krishna and started expressing her desire for him. Krishna just held her like he would hold a baby. He saw where the whole situation was going and knew that if she did something in this condition, she would not be able to handle it later. As a queen of Hastinapur, she would be finished. So he physically carried her and took her inside the palace, went to Gandhari’s chambers – her mother-in-law – and handed over the girl to her. The next day morning, Bhanumati was absolutely grateful to him for having done this. From then on, she became a devotee of Krishna. (2) Krishna’s Proud Wife: Sadhguru: Krishna’s second wife was Satyabama, a very proud woman. She believed that she was the most beautiful and the richest woman, because her father was an extremely rich man and she had all the wealth and jewels she wanted. Vanity was one of her problems. Once, on Krishna’s birthday, she decided to display to everyone how much she loved Krishna. She wanted to distribute whatever was Krishna’s weight in gold to the people of the town. This is called tulabara. This is something that happens in temples. People weigh themselves on a weighing balance against butter, ghee or rice, and distribute that to people. You can give rice, salt, pulses, gold or whatever you can afford. That is part of the tradition. Satyabama set up the tulabara. People were impressed, but Krishna is not impressed by these things. He went and sat in the balance. She knew approximately what his weight was and had that much gold ready. But when she put the gold in the balance, it did not move even a little bit. Something similar happened when Krishna was a child. A certain demon came and tried to carry him away. Then Krishna became extremely heavy and the demon just collapsed with Krishna on top of him and was crushed. In Kriya Yoga, there is a way where a Yogi can increase or decrease his weight. There are many stories about Yogis who became as heavy as a mountain. Krishna increased his weight and sat in the tulabara. She put all the gold that she thought would balance his weight but to no avail. By now, everyone in town had turned up to watch. Then she asked her servants to bring all the jewelry she had. One by one, she put her jewelry on the tulabara hoping that it would work. She put everything she had on the scale but it did not move. She started weeping because this was so shameful for her. The whole town had gathered there for this ritual but she did not have enough gold. Someone who was always so proud of her fortune and wealth did not have enough gold or know what to do. Then she looked at Rukmini – a person that she was always a little jealous of and had trouble with. She asked Rukmini, “What shall I do? Because this shame is not just for me, this is for you, me and everyone. What to do?” Rukmini just went and took three leaves from a tulsi plant that was outside, and put it on the tulabara. Krishna just went up! (3) Krishna’s Half-Devotee: Sadhguru: Krishna was having his lunch one day. Satyabama took great pride and pleasure in serving him because this is not a man who comes home every day. She rarely gets an opportunity to serve him a meal. So she was doing it with great pleasure and joy. But in the middle of his meal, Krishna suddenly got up and without even washing his hands, started running towards the door. Satyabama was aghast. She said, “What is it? Please finish the meal and go.” He said, “No, I need to go,” and ran to the gate. But then he turned back and came and sat down to continue his meal. Then she asked, “Why did you run like this and then turn back? What is it?” He said, “A devotee of mine was sitting in the forest and his very life breath had become “Krishna, Krishna, Krishna.” I saw a hungry tiger approaching him, so I had to go. I went till the gate, but then the fool picked up a stone so I turned back. Let him handle it himself.” (4) The Cure for Krishna’s Headache: Sadhguru: Once, on Krishna’s birthday, there was a big preparation for a great celebration with dance, music and the works. A huge number of people had gathered. But Krishna just sat in the house, not willing to participate. Krishna is always game for any kind of celebration but that day, somehow he was unwilling. Rukmini came and asked him, “What has happened to you my Lord? What is it? You are not participating in the celebration?” Krishna said, “I have a headache.” We do not know whether he really had one or not! Maybe he had one but he is capable of feigning one too. Rukmini said, “Let’s call the physician.” So the doctors came. They tried to give him this medicine, that medicine. Krishna said, “No, all these things won’t work for me.” Then people asked, “What should we do?” By then a lot of people had gathered. Satyabama came, Narada came, “What’s happened, what’s happened?” Everyone was anxious. “Krishna has a headache, what should we do?” Krishna said, “Someone who really loves me, you must take a little dust off your feet and wipe it on my head. It will become okay.” Satyabama said, “What nonsense! I love you but there is no way I am going to take the dust off my feet and put it on your head. We cannot do such things.” Rukmini wept, “How can we do this? It is sacrilege. We cannot do this.” Narada backed off, “I do not want to do such things. You are the Lord himself. I do not know what is involved in this. We do not know what the trap is. I put the dust from my feet on your head and maybe burn in hell forever. I do not want to do such things.” Word spread. Everyone was horrified. “We are not going to do such things. We love him alright but we do not want to go to hell by doing such a thing.” The celebration was waiting for Krishna to come but Krishna was just sitting there with a headache. Then the news went to Vrindavan and the Gopis came to know that Krishna had a headache. Radhe just took her pallu off, put it on the ground and all the Gopis danced on it wildly. They gave it to Narada and said, “Take this and tie it around his head.” Narada brought this and tied it around Krishna’s head and Krishna became alright! Ref article: https://isha.sadhguru.org/en/wisdom/article/4-rare-krishna-stories

• The Story of Radha and Krishna: After being released from all the duties, Radha went to meet her Krishna for the last time. When she reached Dwarka, she heard about Krishna’s marriage to Rukmini and Satyabhama but she did not feel sad. When Krishna saw Radha, he was very happy. Both talked to each other for a long time. However, nobody knew Radha in Dwarka. She requested Krishna to appoint her as a Devika in the palace. Radha lived in the palace throughout the day and as soon as she got the chance, she used to see Krishna. But in the palace, Radha could not feel the spiritual connection with Lord Krishna like before. So Radha decided to go away from the palace with the aim to establish a deep spiritual relationship with Shri Krishna. Radha did not know where she was going and is completely lonely and weak in her last days. Lord Shri Krishna came in front of them in the last time. Krishna told Radha that he demanded something from her, but Radha refused. On the request of Krishna again, Radha said that she wants to see her playing flute for the last time. Sri Krishna took a flute and started playing in a very harmonious tune. Shri Krishna played flute day and night until Radha took her last breathe and merged with Krishna in a spiritual way. Radha abandoned her body while listening to the tunes of the flute. Lord Krishna could not bear Radha’s death and broke his flute as a symbolic ending of love and threw it into the bush. Since then, Sri Krishna has not played the flute or any other instrument of life. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• The Story of Eklavya and Dronacharya: In ancient India, nearly 5000 years ago, there lived a young Nishada (a tribe of hunters) prince by the name of Eklavya. Even though he was a hunter by birth, being the son of the chief of hunters in the forests of Hastinapur, he aspired to become a great archer and a brave warrior. He expressed this desire to his father, “Father, I want to be an archer and become a disciple of the great Guru Dronacharya – the greatest teacher of the art of archery and the science of warfare in the kingdom. Please give me your blessings before I set out for his Gurukul*.” His father remained silent. Eklavya knew what was bothering his father. He said, “Father, I know we are Shudras, belonging to the hunting tribe. But the Guru is a wise and learned man. Please allow me to become his disciple.” Eklavya’s father was a kind man and did not wish to refuse his son. So he gave his blessings and sent his son on his way. Eklavya reached the Gurukul of Guru Dronacharya – who was also the royal teacher of the Pandavas and the Kauravas. Thrilled at the prospect of finally meeting the Guru he had idolized, his eyes eagerly sought out the teacher. He soon spotted him instructing a boy – none other than the Pandava Arjun. Eklavya went to Drona and folded his hands in greeting, bowing down low to touch the sage’s feet. Drona was surprised to see the stranger and asked him, “Who are you?” “Oh Guru, I am Eklavya, the son of the Chief of the Nishada tribe of hunters in the forests of Hastinapur. Please accept me as your humble shishya and teach me the art of archery and the science of warfare”, replied Eklavya. Dronacharya reflected for a minute, then said, “Eklavya, if you are a Nishada hunter, then you are a Shudra, the lowest caste in the kingdom. I am a Brahmin, the highest of castes. All my students are Kshatriyas, the warrior caste. I cannot teach a Shudra boy.” The Pandavas stood watching the exchange. Encouraged by the Guru’s words, Arjuna spoke up, “Guru Dronacharya is a royal teacher, appointed by the King to train us – the princes of the kingdom. How dare you expect to be taught by him! Leave the gurukul now.” Eklavya was surprised and hurt at the Guru’s words, and stunned by Arjuna’s insult. He was a chief’s son, yet he had never insulted anyone. He quietly left the gurukul. Resolute in his determination to learn archery, he went back to the forest. There he built an idol of Guru Dronacharya with mud and placed it in a secluded clearing. Eklavya believed that if he practiced faithfully in front of his Guru, he would be able to master the art of archery. So every morning he would pray to the idol and practice throughout the day. After years of practicing, he became a skilled archer, even surpassing the best archer in the kingdom – Arjuna. One day, while practicing, a dog started barking some distance away. Its constant barking irritated Eklavya, who fired seven arrows in quick succession, filling the dog’s mouth without injuring it. The dog was no longer able to bark and roamed around the forest. Thus roaming, the dog reached the Pandavas, who were practicing in the forest along with Guru Dronacharya. Drona was amazed to see such a feat of archery. He realized that only an extremely skilled archer could have done this. He, along with the Pandavas, set out to look for the archer. Soon they came across a young man, dressed in a hunter’s clothes practicing archery. It was Eklavya. Dronacharya went up to him and asked, “You aim is remarkable! Who is your teacher?” “You, Sir,” replied Eklavya. Dronacharya was stunned. “How can I be your Guru when I have never met you before?” “I am Eklavya, the boy who came to learn archery from you at your gurukul. After you refused, I came back to the forest and made a mud idol of you. I prayed to it everyday, and with its blessing I was able to master the skills of archery”, replied Eklavya. Arjuna was angry, as he was sure of his place as the best archer in the world. Dronacharya also realized that Eklavya had the skills to surpass even Arjuna. However, as the royal teacher, Eklavya’s excellence would put him in a difficult situation, as a mere Shudra hunter would surpass a Kshatriya prince under his tutelage. He devised a way out. To Eklavya he said, “Seeing that you have learnt from me, you will now have to pay guru dakshina – my gift for training you.” Eklavya was overjoyed at this. A guru dakshina was the offering made to a teacher when the teacher considered the shishya to have completed his learning. He replied, “I am blessed that you have asked me for guru dakshina. I would never refuse anything that you ask.” Dronacharya seized his chance, “Eklavya, as guru dakshina, you have to give me your right thumb.” Everyone was shocked, even Arjuna. Everyone knew that an archer could never shoot an arrow without his right thumb. Eklavya looked steadily at Dronacharya. He realized the reason behind this demand. Nevertheless he replied, “I will never disobey your wish, Sir. I am grateful that you recognized me your disciple even though I am a Shudra.” Saying this, he took a knife and cut off his right thumb and placed it at his Guru’s feet. Everyone, including Dronacharya marveled at the boy’s courage. Dronacharya was humbled and blessed Eklavya, “You will be known far and wide as a great archer, even without your thumb. Moreover, you will always be remembered as the greatest student ever for your loyalty towards your guru.” So saying, Dronacharya and the Pandavas left the forest. Eklavya learnt to shoot with forefinger and middle finger and remains an example of the ideal student till today. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Story of Lubdhuka: Mahashivaratri is an Indian festival celebrated in the month of Phalguna in February/March. It heralds the start of the spring season and literally means the “Great Night of Shiva”. There are many stories that are connected to the origins of this festival. The most popular of these is that of Lubdhaka. Lubdhaka was a tribal who would go into the forest everyday to collect firewood. One day, he went deep into the forest and lost his way and could not return home before nightfall. As darkness fell, he heard the growls of wild animals. Terrified, he climbed the nearest tree for shelter till morning. This happened to be a wood-apple, also known as the bel tree in Hindi. But as he perched in the branches, he was afraid he would fall asleep and fall off the tree. To stay awake, he decided to pluck a leaf at a time from the tree and drop it, all the while chanting the name of Shiva. At dawn, he climbed down the tree, he saw a Shiva-linga at its base. He realized that he had, unknowingly, dropped a thousand leaves onto a Shiva-linga to keep himself awake. This unwitting all-night worship pleased Shiva, by whose grace the tribal was rewarded with divine bliss. Ref article: https://www.tell-a-tale.com/story-mahashivaratri-stories-lord-shiva/

• The Cursed God – Brahma: Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh(Shiva) are known as the Trimurti or Trinity, or lord of all lords in Hinduism. In which the cosmic functions of creation, maintenance, and destruction are personified as the triad of deities. Lord Brahma is the first member(the creator), Lord Vishnu being the second (the preserver) and Lord Shiva being the third (the destroyer). When all three deities of the Trimurti incarnate into a single avatar is known as Dattatreya. Among these lord, Brahma is believed to be cursed by Lord Shiva, goddess Saraswati and Bhrigu Maharishi. According to the legends, once Brahma and Vishnu argued as to who was the greater of the two of them. In order to come at a conclusion Shiva took the form of a gigantic lingam (the phallic symbol of Shiva) and told both Brahma and Vishnu that if any of them could find the end of the lingam, He will be declared as the greater of the two. Both Brahma and Vishnu agreed with the deal and set out in opposite directions of the lingam to find its end. But as they kept searching for years, they realized that the lingam had no end. Vishnu realized the fact that Shiva was the greatest among the Trinity. But Brahma wanted to prove that he was the greatest. While he was on the search of the end, he passed the flower of Ketaki which used to be at the uppermost part of the lingam. He requested the Ketaki flower to testify before Shiva that Brahma had reached the uppermost part of the lingam and had seen the end. The Ketaki flower agreed. When brought before Shiva, the flower lied that Brahma had seen the end. Lord Shiva became very angry at this lie. He then cursed Brahma that He would never be worshipped by any human being. He also cursed the Ketaki flower that it would not be used in any Hindu ritual. Curse by Goddess Saraswati: According to Padma Purana, once Brahma saw the demon Vajranabha trying to kill his children. He then immediately slew the demon with his weapon, the lotus flower. In this process, the lotus petals fell on the ground at three places, creating three lakes: the Pushkar Lake, the Madya Pushkar Lake and Kanishta Pushkar lake. When Brahma came down to the earth, he named the place where the flower (\”Pushpa\”) fell from Brahma\’s hand (\”kar\”) as \”Pushkar\”. Brahma then decided to perform a yajna (fire-sacrifice) at the main Pushkar Lake. However, while performing the yajna, his wife Savitri (or Saraswati in some versions) could not be present at the designated time to perform the essential part of the yajna as she was waiting for her companion goddesses Lakshmi, Parvati and Indrani. So Brahma married a Gurjar girl, Gayatri and completed the yajna with his new wife sitting beside him, holding the pot of amrita (elixir of life) on her head and giving ahuti (offering to the sacrificial fire). When Savitri finally arrived at the venue she found Gayatri sitting next to Brahma which was her rightful place. In her anger, she cursed Brahma that he won’t be worshipped by anyone, but then she reduced her curse allowing him to be worshipped in Pushkar. The temple is one of very few existing temples dedicated to the Hindu creator-god Brahma in India and remains the most prominent among them. Curse by Bhrigu Maharishi: Once Bhrigu Maharishi went to the place where Brahma use to reside, but as Brahma and Saraswati were engrossed in the musical consort they could not pay attention to Bhrigu Maharishi, due to which he cursed Brahma that nobody will praise him or worship him in Bhooloka (Earth) as he failed to worship and praise Bhrigu. But once Brahma pleaded mercy, Brigu agreed to have Pushkar as the only place where Brahma will be worshipped. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Births of Jay-Vijay: At the beginning of the process of creation, Lord Brahma created the ‘Four Kumaras’ or the ‘Chatursana’. As the Four Kumaras were born from the mind by just a desire (manas) of Brahma they are referred to as his Manasaputras. Their names are : Sanaka, Sanandana, Sanatana and Sanat Kumara. When the four Kumaras came into existence, they were all embodiments of pure qualities. They did not have any sign of negative qualities like proud, anger, attachment, lust, material desires (Kaam, Krodh, Lobh, Moh, Ahankaar etc). Now Lord Brahma had created these four Kumaras so that they could help in the process of creation. However, the Kumaras refused his order to procreate and instead devoted themselves to God and celibacy (brahmacarya). They requested their father for the boon of remaining perpetually five years old. Due to the boon from their father Brahma and the strength of their tapa, the Four Kumaras looked like 5 year old. Jaya and Vijaya, the gate keepers of the Vaikuntha stopped the Kumaras at the gate, thinking them to be children. They told the Kumaras that Shri Vishnu is resting and that they cannot see them now. Sanat Kumars replied Lord love His devotees and are always available to for His devotees. You are no one to stop us from seeing our dear Lord. But Jay Vijay didn’t understood their point and kept on arguing for long time. Though Sanat Kumars are very pure and have no trigunas of Maya in them (Sato, Rajo, Tamo) but by the plan of Lord to teach His gate keepers a lesson, He circulated anger in pure hearts of Sanat Kumars. The enraged Kumaras cursed both the Dwara Palas, the gate keepers Jaya and Vijaya, that they would have to give up their divinity and born as mortals on Earth and live there. When Jaya and Vijaya were cursed by the Sanat Kumaras at the gateway of Vaikunthaloka, Shri Vishnu appeared before them and the gatekeepers requested Shri Vishnu to lift the curse of the Kumaras. Shri Vishnu says that curse of Kumaras cannot be reverted. Instead, He gives Jaya and Vijaya two options. The first option is to take seven births on Earth as a devotee of Vishnu, while the second is to take three births as His enemy. After serving either of these sentences, they can re-attain their stature at Vaikuntha and be with Him permanently. Jaya and Vijaya cannot bear the thought of staying away from Vishnu for seven lives, they agree to the second option to become enemies. In the first birth as enemy to Shri Vishnu, Jaya and Vijaya were born as Hiraneyaksha and Hiraneyakashyipu in Satya Yuga. Hiranyaksha was an asura, the son of Diti and Kashyapa rishi. He was slain by the Lord Vishnu after he (Hiranyaksha) took the Earth to the bottom of what has been described as the “Cosmic Ocean”. Lord Vishnu assumed the Avatar of a boar - Varaha and dove into the ocean to lift the Earth, in the process slaying Hiranyaksha who was obstructing Him. The battle lasted one thousand years. He had an elder brother named Hiranyakashipu, who after having undertaken penances which made him incredibly powerful and invincible unless several conditions were met, was later slain by Lord Narasimha, another incarnation of Shri Vishnu. Lord Varah Dev killed Hiranyaksha. Lord Narsingh Dev killed Hiranyakashipu. In the next Treta yuga - Jaya and Vijaya were born as Ravana and Kumbhakarna, and were killed by Lord Vishnu in His forms as Ramachandra and Lakshmana. Shri Ram killed Kumbhakarna Shri Ram killed Ravana. At the end of the Dwapara Yuga - Jaya and Vijaya were born their third birth as Shishupala and Dantavakra (an ally of Jarasandha, a friend of Shishupala and an enemy of Vasudeva Krishna) and Lord Krishna appreared Himself along with Balarama and killed them. Therefore, two attendants of the Lord in Vaikuntha named Jaya and Vijaya became Hirakyakasipu and Hiranyakka in Satya-yuga, Ravana and Kumbhakarna in the Treta-yuga, and as Shishupala and Dantavakra at the end of Dvapara-yuga. Because of their fruitive acts, Jaya and Vijaya agreed to become the Lord’s enemies, and when killed in that mentality, they attained salvation in oneness. Shishupala killed by Shri Krishna’s Sudarshan Chakra. Shri Krishna killed Dantavakra in gada yudh. In this way Jaya and Vijaya attained liberation after three births. Ref article: http://krishnaseva.blogspot.com/2014/05/story-of-three-births-of-jay-and-vijay.html

• Guess Who Is More Powerful Than God: Indeed the power is granted by God Himself but when it comes to His real devotees, God becomes like a helpless child only too eager to satisfy His beloved children. Once, God asked Sage Narada: “Who do you think is the most powerful being in this universe?” Narada innocently said, “Swami, who else but you! There is no power greater than you.” At this, Lord Vishnu said, “No my child. That is not true.” At this, Narada started giving one example after another to explain who could theoretically be more powerful than God Himself. Despite giving these examples, Narada knew in his heart that he was not truly convinced that there could be any power greater than God. Finally, seeing the predicament of His devotee, Lord Vishnu declared: “Child, who is that captures God in his sweet and love-saturated heart? It is a true devotee who captivates the Lord Himself and holds Him like a prisoner bound by the chains of love. The bond between a true devotee and God is so powerful, The Supreme Lord remains helplessly captured in the heart of such a devotee. Indeed a true devotee is far more powerful than the Lord because the Lord becomes like a child in front of such a devotee.” In fact, a true devotee will be able to accomplish even what the Lord does not wish to. Once, a king wanted to have a child. The king was of a saintly kind and could visualize Lord Rama in meditation. Lord Rama would speak with him just as two friends converse. During one of his visions, the king requested Lord Rama to grant him a child, a heir to his throne. At this Lord Rama said, “Son, you are indeed very, very dear to me but according to your destiny you have no child in your life.” The king was taken aback and said, “You are God. Please grant my wish.” Lord Rama’s heart melted but he wanted to demonstrate to the king that true devotion is indeed very powerful so He addressed the king as follows: “Son, go to a saint who is seated under the tree. The saint is constantly chanting My name. If he asks me to grant you a son, I will have no choice but to do so.” The king was perplexed but visited the saint who was engrossed in the ceaseless recitation of Lord Rama’s powerful name. As soon as he visited the saint, the omniscient saint immediately told him: “O King, I have offered prayers on your behalf and the Lord has acceded to my request. You will have a great son very soon.” It is no secret that countless seers, sages, devotees, and even ordinary individuals have tapped into the power of God’s name to accomplish the most impossible tasks. What could be a greater endorsement of this truth than Sai Baba’s own words: “The Lord’s name is so powerful, even mountains of sins can be burnt to ashes through its constant repetition.” Hanuman’s life is another glowing testament of the glory of God’s name. Throughout his illustrious life, Hanuman demonstrated how a devotee could perform superhuman feats by unconditionally relying on God. One example illustrates this point. Once, there was a disagreement between Sage Vishwamitra and Sage Vashishta. The two were debating about the greatest power in the universe. The former contested that Lord Rama’s arrows were supremely powerful, while the latter argued that God’s name was most powerful, even more powerful than God Himself. To test the validity of their theories, they proposed a test that was to be executed by Vishwamitra himself. In those days it was customary for householder devotees to receive guests, especially holy ones, with great reverence. One failing this duty would often be the recipient of a curse or fall prey to unpleasant circumstances. Vishwamitra was aware of this and intentionally visited a devotee-king, Chandrabhanu, while he was in deep meditation. Since the king was in a trance, he failed to receive the saint reverentially. This infuriated the sage and he rushed to Lord Rama, who held holy ones in high esteem and went to great extents to appease them. Vishwamitra was aware of this fact and he tactfully made Rama take an oath that the one who insulted Vishwamitra would be killed by His infallible bow. True to His promise, Rama set out on a quest to kill the one who had offended the great Vishwamitra. In the meanwhile, Sage Narada informed Chandrabhanu about the imminent danger. Frightened by the sure prospect of death, he sought Narada’s counsel and requested him if there was any way to avert the tragedy. Narada advised Chandrabhanu to seek protection from Hanuman. He further suggested that Chandrabhanu should reveal the source of danger only after he had extracted a promise from Hanuman. As advised by the sage, Chandrabhanu held Hanuman’s feet and sought his protection. Hanuman took an oath in Rama’s name and promised to protect the king even at the cost of his own life. The stage was well set. On one hand the Lord was bound by His oath, while on the other His most loyal and beloved devotee Hanuman was bound by an opposing oath. To fulfill his promise, Rama sent His powerful army to kill Chandrabhanu but it was vanquished by the valiant Hanuman in a trice. Rama then sent his brothers and ministers. They, too, were defeated by Hanuman. Finally, Rama Himself came to the scene to see the one who had given succor to Chandrabhanu. He was surprised to find Hanuman, his most beloved devotee, protecting the one who stood against Rama. The Lord immediately ordered Hanuman to give up, but the latter, with great humility submitted that he had taken an oath in Rama’s name and would never do anything to tarnish its glory. On explaining this Hanuman stood still, but every pore of his body was reverberating with Rama’s name. Rama then lifted his divine bow and let loose a foray of arrows, all of which miraculously turned into flower garlands decorating the neck of the valiant Hanuman. Vashishta explained the astonished onlookers that even through Rama’s arrows were invincible, they were no match for His own name. It was then that everyone, including Vishwamitra, realized the power of God’s name. Rama was extremely pleased with the devotion of Hanuman and blessed him profusely. To keep his beloved devotee’s oath, the merciful Lord forsook His own and granted forgiveness to Chandrabhanu. Such is the power of the name. It can protect one from almighty God Himself, what power is there to fear then. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Lesser Known Stories About King Dasharatha of Ayodhya Dasharatha and his wives: Once upon a time, there was a king whose name was Dasharatha. He was a king of the Ikshavaaku or the Suryavanshi (which means ‘descendants of the Sun-God’) dynasty. He ruled the kingdom of Kosala from its capital – Ayodhya, the City of Splendour. It was a prosperous city and had a just king. Everyone was happy in this city. However, King Dasharatha and his wives were the only people who were unhappy in the kingdom. Not because he wanted more money, or was being attacked by an enemy. The problem was that he had no heir. Here are two stories from the life of King Dasharatha. Kaikeyi’s Two Wishes: One day, the king of the gods – Indra – descended to the earth in his royal chariot. Dasharatha welcomed Devendra (another name for Indra) with all respects, and then asked, “O Indra, I am blessed to meet you. But why this unexpected and unannounced visit?” Said Indra, “O Suryavanshi Dasharatha, I have heard from my spies that the Rakshasas are planning an attack on the residents of Swarga (Heaven). I decided to go to as many kings as possible and ask them to join the war against the Rakshasas. Tell me whether you will fight or not.” Dasharatha said, “I consider it my luck to serve the king of the gods. I will prepare my army immediately.” When Indra went out, Dasharatha ordered the Maha Mantri (Prime Minister) to ready the army. Within a week, they were on the way to the Rakshasas’ kingdom. The gods won the war. However, an interesting incident happened with King Dasharatha during the battle. When he was badly injured, his charioteer, queen Kaikeyi drove him out of the battlefield and revived him with healing herbs. Pleased with her bravery, Dasharatha granted her two wishes. Kaikeyi decided to ask for her wishes later. The Story Behind Birth of Lord Rama: Dasharatha then organised a ritual for progeny. However, before we go into what happened there, let us visit the gods in Swarga. The gods were very unhappy with a demon named Raavana. He had secured a boon from Lord Brahma that he could not be vanquished by any Deva (god), Rakshasa (demon) or Vanara (tribes of monkeys), etc. As a result, Raavana and his companions flew around the earth harassing sages and drinking their blood. The gods went to the Brahma and asked how to vanquish Raavana. Said Brahma, “The boon I granted Raavana prevents him from being vanquished by anyone except humans. It is not possible for me to kill him. Go and talk to Vishnu. He is the only one who can save us.” All the gods went to Lord Vishnu in Kshira Sagara. They told him of Raavana and his wickedness. Vishnu smiled and said, “Yes, a human with many powers can kill him. I will take birth on earth as Rama, son of Dasharatha. And this was what happened. As a result of Dasharatha’s yajna (ritual offering to gods for a boon), Vishnu took birth on earth as Rama. And from here, did the part of Ramayan start, which most people know. Ref article: https://www.tell-a-tale.com/lesser-known-stories-about-king-dasharatha-of-ayodhya/

• Story of the birth of Lord Ganesha: Ganesha is the eldest son of Goddess Parvati and Lord Shiva. Known for his intellect, calmness and wisdom, Ganesha is one of the most worshipped Hindu deities. Ganesha is a patron of the arts and sciences, and removes all obstacles. Stories of Ganesha should be told to children to instill a sense of peace and calm in them. Once when Goddess Parvati went to take a bath, she took some turmeric paste and created a human form out of it. She then breathed life into this human form and thus a boy was born. Parvati accepted the boy as her son and asked him to guard the main gates. She clearly instructed him not to let anyone enter till she had completed with her bath. It so happened that when the little boy was guarding the main door, Lord Shiva came back from his penance from the Himalayas. The boy stopped Shiva from entering the house. When asked, he told him Shiva that his mother was bathing inside and had asked her to not let anyone pass through the doors. Little did the boy know that Shiva was his own father. Similarly, Shiva too was not aware of the true identity of the boy guarding the door. Shiva turned furious on being stopped from entering his own house. In a fit of rage, Shiva lifted his trident and severed the head of the little boy and entered the house. Just then, Goddess Parvati came out from her bath. She was devastated to find her son lying dead before her eyes. She revealed the true identity of the boy and implored Shiva to bring him to life. Shiva too was filled with remorse. Shiva is a simple god, earning him the name of Bhole Nath. While he is quick to anger, it is also very easy to please him. He agreed to bring the boy back to life. But he told Parvati that it was not possible, even for him, to join the severed head of the boy to his body as the impact of his trident was irreversible. So, he would find a new head for the boy. Shiva knew that the little boy had lost his life while keeping his word to his mother. The boy’s love for his mother was unparalleled. He called out to his bull, Nandi. He ordered Nandi to bring back the head of the first creature he found away from its mother. He concluded that only a calf that does not love his mother would be away from her. Nandi brought back the head of an elephant calf. Shiva placed the head of the elephant on the boy and brought him back to life. Though Parvati was happy to see her son alive she feared that the boy will be mocked for his unusual presence. She thought that her son would never earn his rightful place among gods. No one may worship a god that has a human body and an elephant’s head. Shiva knew what was troubling Parvati. To allay her fears, Shiva invoked all the gods and asked them to bless their son. The gods blessed the boy and bestowed many boons on him. Shiva recognized him as his own son and named him “Ganesha” or “Ganapati”. Ganapati means a “leader among all classes of beings or Ganas”. The Gods blessed Ganesha with the blessing that he would be worshiped before anyone else at the beginning of any ritual, irrespective of the occasion. They also blessed him to be a master of intellect and wisdom. This tradition of invoking and seeking Ganesha’s blessings, before that of any other God, continues even today. In fact, Ganesha is worshiped by all Hindu sects, regardless of their affiliation and is also worshiped by followers of Jainism and Buddhism. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Deliverance – The Story of Ahalya: The Story of Ahalya is always told from two perspectives – that of the victim Ahalya – and that from the perspective of Lord Rama in Ramayana. The second version is often easily adapted for a younger audience. Here is the true story of Ahalya, suitable for a grown-up audience. “Ahalya was Brahma, the Creator’s prized creation. She was the most beautiful female he ever created, into whose creation he poured all his creativity, and he gave her the name Ahalya, meaning “the one with no ugliness” in Sanskrit. Knowing that Indra would invariably covet her, Brahma sent Ahalya to live in the hermitage of Sage Gautama until she reached puberty. When she grows up, Gautama returns her to Brahma. Pleased with the sage’s asceticism, Brahma bestows Ahalya upon him as his wife. Indra is enamored by Ahalya and is thus jilted when she is married to Gautama. He plans his union with her. One day when Gautama is away, he enters the hermitage disguised as Gautama and requests intercourse with her. The sage returns in the meantime, catching the disguised Indra and Ahalya making love. Outraged, he curses Indra to be covered in a thousand female genitals and Ahalya to be turned to stone. Ahalya begs for his forgiveness. Moved, he grants her a boon that she would be released from her stone form when the sacred feet of the son of Ayodhya (Lord Rama) touch her. He reduces Indra’s curse as well, reducing the genitals to a thousand eyes. Centuries later, Lord Rama, on his way to Mithila for Sita’s swayamvar passes through the hermitage, the dust from his feet touches the stone that is Ahalya. The curse is broken and Ahalya returns to her human form. Lord Rama touches her feet, proclaiming her innocence. Gautama is moved when he hears Lord Rama’s proclamation and takes her back as his wife. Ahalya is thus delivered at the hands of Lord Rama.” Ref article: https://www.tell-a-tale.com/deliverance-the-story-of-ahalya/

• Kaliya Daman – Krishna Tames The Serpent Kaliya:
  5000 years ago, in the Dvapara Yuga, Krishna – an incarnation of Lord Vishnu – one of the holy Trinity – lived in Vrindavan. He took birth to cleanse the Earth of evil, which was crumbling under the weight of sinners and their sins. Stories from Krishna’s childhood inspire children to be brave and stand up for what is right. Krishna had many interesting encounters with evil forces and with those who did not recognize that he was Vishnu incarnate. This is one such story. Kaliya was a dreaded, many-hooded poisonous serpent who used to live on the banks of Ramanaka Dwipa. He was driven away from there by the fear of Garuda – the mount of Lord Vishnu and the arch enemy of all serpents. Many years ago, Garuda had been cursed by a sage that he would meet his death in Vrindavan. Kaliya knew this, so he chose the banks of Yamuna near Vrindavan as his home, moving there with his family. Kaliya was so venomous that the waters of Yamuna bubbled and churned with his poison and turned black. No one in Vrindavan dared to visit that part of the river, or even go near the river banks. One day, Krishna and his sakhas (friends) were playing ball near the banks of the Yamuna river. Krishna, who was a form of Lord Vishnu, slowly drew his friends closer to the part of the river where Kaliya resided. Suddenly the ball landed in the water. Krishna jumped in after the ball. His friends called after him, warning him of the dreadful serpent. Krishna ignored their cries and dived deep into the river to retrieve the ball. Everyone from the village rushed to the river bank, but no one dared to go in after Krishna. Meanwhile, under water, Kaliya attacked Krishna. He attempted to dig his fangs into Krishna, but Krishna was too fast for him. He filled the water with his venom, but Krishna dispersed the venom with one stroke of his hand. He then wrapped his body around Krishna and dragged him deeper into the river, attempting to crush him. But Krishna grew his body so huge that Kaliya had to release him. Soon Kaliya started to tire. Krishna then grabbed the serpent’s tail and dragged him to the river surface. He then assumed the weight of the whole universe in his feet. And playing his flute with one hand, started dancing on the serpent’s head, all the while not releasing his hold on the serpent’s tail. Kaliya started vomiting venom and blood, and started dying. Seeing this, Kaliya’s many wives came to Krishna, begging for the life of their husband. Kaliya himself saw the error of his ways, and realized that Krishna was no ordinary child, but an incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself. He begged for forgiveness and promised never to torment anyone ever again. Krishna forgave him, with a warning, and told him to go back to Ramanaka Dwipa along with his family, and never come back to Vrindavan again. Ref article: https://www.tell-a-tale.com/kaliya-daman-krishna-tames-serpent-kaliya-indian-mythological-story/

• How Lord Krishna Killed Demon Arishtasura: The stories of the exploits of Kamsa, and his attempts to kill his nephew Krishna are many. One such story is that of the demon Arishtasura (arishtasura means bull demon in Sanskrit) Kamsa. the evil king of Mathura, wanted to kill his nephew Krishna because it was prophesied that Krishna would be the reason for Kamsa’s death. Kamsa called the demon Arishtasura and ordered him to kill Krishna. Arishtasura transformed himself into a bull and went in search of Krishna towards Vrindavan. Upon reaching Vrindavan, he saw many kids playing. In order to identify which one of them was Krishna, Arishtasura started creating havoc by uprooting trees, destroying houses and scaring away villagers. He knew Krishna would present himself and challenge him. Krishna was away with his cattle and fellow cowherds. He heard screams coming from the direction of the village and saw a wild bull running amok. Despite his friends’ warning, Krishna ran towards the bull to contain it. On coming closer, he realized that it was not an ordinary bull but a demon in disguise. He immediately blocked the path of the bull and challenged him, “You petty creature! You are trying to show off your strength on innocent villagers by destroying their humble dwellings. You are just a wild bull who needs to be taught a lesson. Should I teach you one?” Saying this Krishna gave out a loud laugh and smirked. The bull did not like being mocked at. Krishna’s casual attitude angered him further. He gave out a loud cry, started digging the earth with his groves and charged towards Krishna. The bull lifted its tail in the air and swirled it so violently that it blew away the clouds in the sky. Seeing the bull fuming and charging with anger towards Krishna scared the villagers and Krishna’s friends. They were worried about his safety. Krishna stood his ground. As soon as the bull came close, Krishna held him by his horns, pushed him back by eighteen steps and threw him aside. Arishtasura was taken aback by Krishna’s offensive move. He got up and charged towards Krishna, once again, with all his might. This time Krishna caught one of his horns, swirled him vigorously in the air, threw him on the ground and broke his horn. The bull fell down with a loud thud. Arishtasura could not muster up enough strength to lift his body off the ground. He was bleeding profusely from his mouth. With a painful cry, the bull died. Who was Arishtasura? From the dead body of the bull, a soul arose and took the form of a man. He bowed in front of The Lord and said, “In another life, my name was Varatantu. Once, I approached god Brahaspati and requested him to accept me as his student. Brahaspati agreed to take me as a disciple. One day, unknown to me, I sat with my feet facing my guru. This angered him and he remarked that I have shown disrespect to him by sitting in front of him like a bull. He cursed me that I would turn into a demon. I immediately apologized and begged for forgiveness. When Brahaspati’s anger subsided, he said that I will have to spend some time as a demon bull as the curse cannot be taken back. But he gave me a boon that at the end of my life, I would achieve Moksha. That I would be killed by The Lord himself in a battle.” Saying this, the soul bowed once again before The Lord, paid its obeisance and left for heavenly abode. Ref article: https://www.tell-a-tale.com/krishna-killed-demon-arishtasura/

• Lord Ganesha and Kubera Kubera, the God of wealth was haughty since he was the richest God. To flaunt his possessions, he held a lavish dinner and sent invitations to popular guests. Among his invited guests were Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati. However they sent their son, Ganesha as they were unable to attend. And then the fun started! Ganesha reached early and, unable to control himself, headed straightaway to indulge in the scrumptious food. He ate all the food prepared in the kitchens for the guests. Still feeling hungry, he consumed even the vessels, furniture and other things. Not satisfied, he even devoured the host of the dinner too, which scared Kubera! He ran to Lord Shiva for protection. Lord Shiva gave some roasted cereals to Ganesha which satisfied his appetite. This made Kubera realize his mistake and taught him a life-changing lesson. This story of Ganesha forms an invariable part of every collection of mythological stories and is a favorite with all kids. Lord Ganesha and Goddess Parvati This story is very famous among kids and teaches an important lesson that everyone should treat animals with care. As a part of his daily routine, Lord Ganesha went to play with his friends along with his mushak (mouse) gang. But his mushak got scared upon seeing a cat. This infuriated Bal Ganesha and he started teasing and tormenting the cat. He was constantly pulling his tail, throwing him on the ground and making him dirty. After some time, he let the cat go off. When he returned to his abode, he was shocked to see his mother, Goddess Parvati in a wounded condition. He asked about the person responsible for this, to which she replied ‘you’. He was shocked. She explained how she is present in each living being and gets affected by anything that happens to them This made Bal Ganesha repent his mistake and taught him to treat animals gently. Lord Ganesha and River Kaveri Ganesha Sage Agastya and KaveriOnce upon a time, there was a sage named Agastya who wished to seek the blessings of Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. He wanted to create a river flowing in a direction which offered water to the Southern lands. His prayers were heard by Gods and they filled his kamandalu (water pot) with sacred water. On his way to the South, Sage Agastya wanted to relieve himself and have a wash. He saw a small boy and requested him to take care of his kamandalu. This small boy was Lord Ganesha himself who placed the pot on the ground as he found that to be an ideal location for the river. When Agastya returned he found a crow sitting on the pot and the sage shooed him away. However as the crow flew off it tipped the pot to the ground and the water spilt. This took the form of River Kaveri! A trouble may actually be a blessing in disguise. Ref article: https://www.tell-a-tale.com/unforgettable-childhood-stories-of-lord-ganesha/

• Navratri Stories – The Story of All The 9 Goddesses Navratri, also spelled Navaratri or Navarathri, is a 9 day long Hindu festival celebrated in almost every part of India. In most parts it is celebrated in honor of the divine Devi – Durga, a re-incarnation of Adi Shakti. In the southern and eastern states of India, the Durga Puja is synonymous with worshiping the Goddess – Navratri, wherein goddess Durga battles and emerges victorious over Mahishasura – the buffalo demon. In the northern and western states, the festival celebrates the battle and victory of god Rama over the demon king Ravana. In both cases, the festival celebrates the victory of the good over evil. The 9 days of Navratri are dedicated to the worship of 9 forms of the Goddess – Shailaputri, Brahmacharini, Chandraghanta, Kushmanda, Skandamata, Katyayani, Kaalaratri, Mahagauri, Durga or ParaShakti. Here are the stories of each of these Goddesses. Ma Shailaputri: The Goddess Worshiped on the First Day of Navratri: Shailaputri was the daughter of the God of Mountains, Himalaya. Popularly known as Parvati, her husband is Shiva and she has two sons – Kartikeya and Ganesha. In her previous incarnation, she was Sati – the daughter of a great king, Daksha. According to the legend, Daksha Prajapati was one of the sons of Lord Brahma. Daksha did not want his daughter, Sati, to marry Shiva as he considered Shiva a dirty ascetic not worthy of marrying a girl from a noble family. Read the Complete Story here. Ma Brahmacharini: The Goddess Worshipped on Second Day of Navratri: In this avatar, Durga embodies tapa or penance. The name Brahmacharini is derived from two words – “Brahma” here means tapa or penance and “Charini” means an ardent female follower. After she immolated herself in the sacrificial fire of the yagna, Durga took birth as the daughter of the King of the Mountains, Himavan or Himalaya. She was named Parvati (after the Sanskrit name for mountains – parvat) or Hemavati. When Parvati grew up, sage Narada – son of Brahma, paid her a visit. He told her that she did have a chance to marry her husband from her previous birth, Lord Shiva, if she followed a path of penance. Determined to marry Shiva in this birth as well, Parvati embarked upon an extremely difficult regime of penance and devotion. Read the Complete Story here. Ma Chandraghanta: The Goddess Worshipped on the Third Day of Navratri: This avatar of Goddess Durga is known and worshipped as Ma Chandraghanta (Mother Chandraghanta). Her forehead is bedecked with the crescent moon (Hindi: Chandra) resembling the shape of a temple bell (Hindi: ghantaa). Upon the insistence of Sage Narada, Parvati, the daughter of Himalaya observed austere penance to get Lord Shiva as her consort. Shiva, after losing Sati, had become detached from worldly affairs and had retired into the mountains in deep meditation, isolation and austerity. But after seeing Parvati’s resolve to get him, Shiva relents and agrees for the marriage. On the day of marriage, Shiva reaches King’s Himavan’s palace in a most terrorizing form along with the strangest marriage procession. His body is smeared with ash, with snakes around his neck as well as in the matted locks of his unkempt hair. The marriage procession consists of ghosts, ascetics, sages, goblins, ganas, ghouls and aghoris. Upon seeing such a terrorizing form of Lord Shiva and his strange marriage procession, Parvati’s mother and other relatives are left in a state of shock. Most of them faint purely out of terror. To avoid any embarrassment to her family and to Lord Shiva, Parvati transforms herself into a terrorizing form – Chandraghanta. Ma Kushmanda: The Goddess Worshipped on the Fourth Day of Navratri: This avatar of Adi Shakti is also referred to as the Smiling Goddess. Her name is made up of three distinct words. The first word is “Ku” which means little. The second word is “Ushma” which means warmth or energy. And the third word is “Anda” which means egg. Upon combining the three words, one can derive the meaning of her name which means the one who is the creator of this “little cosmic egg” called Universe. This form is a happy manifestation of the goddess. It is said that when the universe was non-existent and there was darkness everywhere, Ma Kushmanda produced this “little cosmic egg” with her smile. The universe was then filled with light. It is believed that she is the source of all the energy in the universe. Further, it is also believed that she lives in the core of the Sun and thus provides energy to all the beings. She is believed to provide direction to Surya, the Sun God. Ma Skandamata: The Goddess Worshipped on the Fifth Day of Navratri: Skanda is another name for Lord Kartikeya (Parvati’s son and Lord Ganesha’s brother). Mata means mother and thus Skandamata means mother of Skanda or Kartikeya. As is clear from the name, she is another form of Parvati. The birth of Kartikeya is an interesting story. After Sati immolated herself, Shiva became detached from the worldly affairs and started practicing austere penance as an ascetic. At the same time, the gods (devas) were under an attack from demons (asuras) who were being led by Surapadman and Tarakasura. They had a boon that only Shiva or his offspring could kill them. Ma Katyayani: The Goddess Worshiped on the Sixth Day of Navratri: She has four hands and she wields a long sword and a lotus in two of them. She blesses with the third hand and protects with the fourth one. According to the legends, there was a sage known as ‘Kat’ who had a son named ‘Katya’. Later, a sage named ‘Katyayan’ took birth as his descendant. Sage Katyayan had no offspring. He observed austere penance and prayed to the gods for a child. Meanwhile, the demon Mahishasura was creating a lot of trouble for the gods. The gods approached Vishnu to sought a way to end Mahishasura. At Vishnu’s behest, Shiva and Brahma joined him and then the Trinity (Vishnu, Shiva and Brahma) emitted flames which took the form of Katyayani. A manifestation of Durga, she then took birth as the daughter of Sage Katyayan as a result of which she came to be known as Katyayani. Ma Kaalratri: The Goddess Worshipped on the Seventh Day of Navratri: Kaal refers to time as well as death in Hindi whereas ratri refers to night or darkness/ignorance. Hence, Ma Kaalratri is the one which brings the death of darkness or the one who ends ignorance. She is also commonly referred as Kali. Once two demons named Shumbha and Nishumbha invaded devaloka and defeated Indra and his army. After losing his kingdom, Swarga, Indra along with all the other gods went towards the Himalayas to seek help. They prayed to goddess Parvati and sought her assistance in getting their kingdom back. Parvati created Chandi and sent her to kill the demons. In the battlefield, Shumbha and Nishumbha sent two demons Chanda and Munda. Chandi created another goddess, Kali, to fight Chanda-Munda. Kali killed both of them and thus came to be known as Chamunda. Ma Mahagauri: The Goddess Worshipped On The Eighth Day of Navratri: Maha means extremely and gauri means white. She is worshiped by devotees to attain loyalty in relationships and create life-long bonds. The story of Mahagauri has many versions. The most popular is this. After killing all demons in the form of Kaalratri, Parvati was left with skin as dark as night. Her husband Shiva teased her with the nickname ‘Kali’ (dark-skinned). Agitated, Parvati applied to Brahma by undergoing a severe penance lasting many days, to regain her fair skin. Pleased, Brahma advised her to take a bath in the Mansarovar River in the Himalayas (some local variants replace the Mansarovar River with the holy Ganges river). Ref article: https://www.tell-a-tale.com/navratri-stories-the-story-of-all-the-9-goddesses/

• Origin of Goddess Lakshmi: Lakshmi was born from the stirring of the primordial milky ocean by the gods and demons. The name Lakshmi is derived from the Sanskrit word Laksya, which means aim or destination. Lakshmi is the goddess of wealth and prosperity of all forms, material and spiritual. Like most Hindu mythology, Lakshmi’s origin story has many different versions and is always embellished with many surreal, magical or even unbelievable elements. Lakshmi’s story begins with a meeting between Sage Durvasa and Lord Indra. Sage Durvasa, with a lot of respect, offers Indra a garland of flowers. Lord Indra takes the flowers and rather than humbly placing them around his own neck, he puts the garland on the forehead of his elephant Airvata. The elephant takes the garland and throws it down on the earth- after all, he is an elephant. He didn’t know better! Durvasa gets angry at this disrespectful treatment of his gift and he says to Indra, “you have an inflated ego and in your arrogance, you have disrespected me!” Durvasa curses Lord Indra, stating that his kingdom will be ruined just as he ruined the garland by throwing it onto the ground in his excessive pride. Durvasa walks away and Indra returns to his home. The changes in Indra’s city start to take place following Durvasa’s curse. The gods & people lose their vigour and energy, all the vegetable products and plants start dying, men stop doing charity, minds become corrupted, and everyone’s desires become uncontrollable. With the Gods getting weak in Indra’s home town, the demons invade the realm of the Gods and defeat them. Everything became chaotic. This is the reason that both Gods (light) and Demons (darkness) reside in us and are representative of the good and evil within us. After being defeated, the Gods went to Lord Vishnu (the preserver of the universe) who suggested they churn the ocean to restore the power back to the Gods. The work of churning this primordial ocean will bring back the elixir of immortal life to the gods. The churning is symbolized by a literal tug of war between the Gods and Demons in the story. Being a vast body, it would take all of the gods and all of the demons to churn the ocean. So the gods took a snake and wrapped it around Mount Madura. They then sunk the whole mountain into the milky sea. With the gods at the tail end and the demons at head, they both pulled, uncoiling the snake, causing the mountain to spin and the primeval sea to swirl. From this churning many things rise up out of the ocean, including Lakshmi AND the elixir of immortal life. Goddess Lakshmi rises out of the waves, fully grown, gorgeous and on a lotus flower. Eventually through some tricky slight-of-hand the elixir of immortal life also is returned to the gods and order in the universe is restored. One of the lessons in this story is that when we get arrogant or angry, it leads to an inability to perform good work. We will lack mental peace, willpower and have a meaningless life. It also shows us that we sometimes have to work with our adversaries, finding compromise and collaboration in order to restore order for a greater good. Lakshmi is known to be the daughter of the mother Goddess Durga, and the wife of Vishnu, whom she accompanied, taking different forms in each of his incarnations. To understand the story of the birth of Goddess Lakshmi, let us throw some light on Vishnu Puranas. The story begins with a meeting between Sage Durvasa and Lord Indra. Sage Durvasa, with a lot of respect, offers a garland of flowers to Lord Indra.Lord Indra takes the flowers and places it on the forehead of his elephant, Airavat. The elephant takes the garland and throws it down on the earth. The chief of sages Durvasa gets angry at this disrespectful treatment of his gift, says to the King of Gods, you have an inflated ego and in your arrogance, you have not respected the garland which was the dwelling of the Goddess of fortune. Sage Durvasa curses Lord Indra that his kingdom will also be ruined like he has thrown the garland onto the ground in his excessive pride since Lord Indra has not bowed in front of him. Sage Durvasa walks away and Indra returns to his capital Amravati. The changes in Amravati starts to take place following Durvasa’s curse. The gods & people lose their vigour and energy, all the vegetable products and plants start dying, men stop doing charity, minds become corrupted, people start engaging in ultimate sensory pleasures and men and women started getting excited by objects. Everyone’s desires become uncontrollable. With the Gods getting weak in Amravati, the demons invaded the Gods and defeated them. This is the reason the Gods and Demons reside in us and are representative of the good and evil within us. After being defeated, the Gods went to Lord Vishnu who suggested the churning of the ocean to restore the power back to the Gods by providing them with the Amrit that would make them immortal. This is how the churning of the ocean began. The churning is symbolized by a literal tug of war between the Gods and Demons in the story. From this churning, Goddess Lakshmi rises out of the waves seated on a full-blown lotus. The Goddess Lakshmi chooses Vishnu as her Master and thus chooses the Gods over the demons. The Gods get their power back and fight the Asuras again and prevail over them. The first lesson in this story is that Lakshmi, the Goddess of fortune forsakes even the Gods if they become arrogant. Lakshmi Goddess is not only about material wealth. When the Goddess of Fortune gets angry, it leads to an inability to perform good work, lack of energy, hunger, poverty, lack of mental peace, lack of willpower and a meaningless life. Ref article: https://yogaacademyinternational.com/lakshmi/

• A Story connected with Diwali: According to astrological calculations, the sixteen-year-old son of King Hima was destined to die by snakebite on the fourth day of his marriage. On that particular night, his young wife did not allow him to sleep. She laid all the ornaments and heaps of gold and silver coins in a big pile at the entrance of her husband’s bedchamber and lit innumerable lamps all over the palace. Throughout the night, she went on telling stories and singing songs. When Yama, the god of death, arrived there in the guise of a serpent, his eyes were blinded by that dazzle of those brilliant lights and he could not enter the prince’s chamber. So he slithered on top of the heap of coins and ornaments and sat there whole night enchanted by the girl’s melodious singing. In the morning he quietly went away. Thus the young wife saved her husband from the clutches of death. Since then, this day came to be known as the day of “Yamadipdan” – the offering of lamps to Yama. Lamps are kept burning throughout the night in reverential adoration of Yama, the god of death. This second day of the five-day Diwali festival is also called Dhanteras. It is also known as Dhanvantari Trayodashi – the festival on the thirteenth day of the moon that celebrates the appearance of Dhanvantari. Dhanvantari is an incarnation of Vishnu. He appeared from the ocean of milk in order to reveal to humans the science of Ayur-Veda (medicine). Lakshmi also appeared from the same ocean of milk Ref article: https://iskconeducationalservices.org/HoH/further-information-and-teaching-resources-primary/different-deities-stories-further-information-and-teaching-resources-primary/t-stories-of-lakshmi/

• A Story from South India: The following story is connected with the famous temple at Tirupati. It also relates to Hindu ideals of commitment in marriage. Following an argument with Lord Vishnu, Goddess Lakshmi left her heavenly abode and came down to the earth. She stayed in a hermitage on the banks of the River Godavari. Missing his beloved, Lord Vishnu went in search of her and came to the earth planet. Ultimately his quest brought him to the Seshadri hills where he stopped to rest in an anthill. Upset by the separation between Vishnu and Lakshmi, Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva decided to intervene, and adopting the guises of a cow and a calf, went to live within the palace grounds of a local king. The cowherd took the cow and calf everyday to graze in the Seshadri hills, where the cow would secretly visit the anthill in which Vishnu was living. Emptying her milk, the cow would then return to the palace. The cowherd was angry as the cow never yielded any milk to him. He watched her movements carefully and his observations led him to the anthill. In trying to ascertain what lay beneath the anthill, he struck it with an axe, injuring Vishnu on the forehead. In search of herbs to heal the wound, Lord Vishnu wandered far and wide. His wanderings brought him to the shrine of Sri Varahaswami – the third incarnation of Vishnu (as a boar). Here, he sought permission to stay, but Varahaswami wanted a rental to be paid; Vishnu pleaded that he was poor now and needed rent-free accommodation. To reciprocate this gesture of goodwill, he offered to tell his devotees to worship Varahaswami before they worshipped him. Varahaswami agreed and Vishnu built a hermitage and lived there served by a devotee, Vakuladevi, who looked after him as would a mother. In a nearby kingdom ruled King Akasha Raja. Childless for many years, he had one day found a beautiful baby girl sleeping within a golden box which he found while ploughing.. He had named her Padmavati. A beautiful and accomplished girl, Padmavati had been granted a boon in her earlier birth that she would be married to Lord Vishnu. One day, Vishnu, who had been renamed Shrinivas by his foster mother went hunting in the forest. His wandering led him to a garden with a beautiful pond. Shrinivas was thirsty and tired. After drinking from the pond, he rested in the shade of a tree. Soon he was roused by the soft singing of Padmavati who was dancing in the garden with her companions. Shrinivas was stunned by her beauty and attracted to her. She too seemed to be drawn to him, but the angry attendants, thinking the boy a mere hunter, drove him away. Depressed and unhappy, Shrinivas poured out his troubles his foster-mother. Now for the first time, he revealed to her who he really was and also told her the story of Padmavati. In the meanwhile, Padmavati was dreaming of Shrinivas. She had no idea who he really was and knew that her parents would consent to her marriage to a hunter. Shrinivas urged Vakuladevi to approach Padmavati’s father, Akasha Raja, with the marriage proposal. In the meanwhile he disguised himself as a soothsayer and went to the court of Akasha Raja. There, he assured Padmavati that the hunter she had fallen in love with was no ordinary man but the Lord Himself, and assured her that her worries would soon be over. Padmavati too poured out her heart to her parents. At about the same time, Vakuladevi arrived with the marriage proposal. After consulting with the sages Akasha Raja accepted the proposal and invited Shrinivas to attend the wedding on Friday, the 10th day of the month of Vaikasi. Shrinivas now had arrangements to make. He sought a loan of 11,400,000 coins of gold from Kuvera, the treasurer of the demigods. He requested Vishvakarma, the divine architect, to construct heavenly surroundings in the Seshadri hills. The day of the wedding arrived, Lord Shrinivas was bathed in holy waters and dressed in jeweled ornaments befitting a royal groom. Then he set off in a procession for the court of Akasha Raja. There Padmavati waited, radiant in her beauty. Shrinivas was hailed with an arti ceremony and led to the marriage hall. There the king and queen washed his feet while sage Vashishta chanted the Vedic mantras. Soon the wedding was over and it was time for Padmavati to take leave of her parents. Together, they lived for all eternity and Goddess Lakshmi, understanding the commitment of Lord Vishnu, chose to live in his heart forever. Tirupati, today, stands as a special place, commemorating the marriage between the Vishnu and Lakshmi. Everyday, a special festival celebrates the divine union. Even today, during the Brahmotsavam at the temple, turmeric, kum-kum and a sari are sent from the temple to Tiruchanur, the abode of Padmavati. In fact Tirupati is rarely visited without paying a visit to Tiruchanur. In the light of this background, it has become the favored destination of many newly wed couples who pray for a happy wedding – a wedding like that of Shrinivas and Padmavati. Ref article: https://iskconeducationalservices.org/HoH/further-information-and-teaching-resources-primary/different-deities-stories-further-information-and-teaching-resources-primary/t-stories-of-lakshmi/

• Why Lord Shiva is Under Feet of Kaali: Goddess Kali is regarded as the most fierce and destructive form of Shakti. She has a dark complexion, red eyes and has four arms. In one of Her hands She carries a sword (khadaga) and in another hand She carries the decapitated head of a demon. The other two hands are in the position of blessing Her devotees. She also wears a garland of heads of the demons She has killed which makes this form of the Goddess even more fearful and divine. Apart from all Her fierce looks, You will also see that the tongue of the Goddess is always out. The most important part is that the Goddess is shown as stepping over the chest of Lord Shiva, who is Her husband. This episode of Goddess Kali stepping over Lord Shiva has an interesting story behind it. So, would you like to know why Kali stepped on Shiva’s chest? Then, read on: Story Of Rakta Beej There was once a very powerful demon known as Rakta Beej who had acquired a boon that he could duplicate himself as soon as his drop of blood touched the Earth. Due to this boon, the Gods were unable to bring the notorious demon under control. Hence, Shakti in the form of Goddess Durga was summoned to kill the demon. Armed with all the weapons, the Goddess charged at the demon. But as soon as She wounded him with Her sword and his blood fell on Earth, the demon kept on multiplying. Huge armies of Rakta Beej were formed by the puddles of blood which fell on Earth. Enraged by this, the Devi took the fierce form of Kali. Then She went on to destroy the demon with sword in Her hand. She would slay each demon and drink his blood immediately. Soon She finished the whole army of Rakta Beej and only the real Rakta Beej was left. Then She slay him and drank all his blood till he fell down lifeless. It is said that the Goddess became mad with blood lust after this incident. She started dancing the dance of destruction and forgot that She had already killed the demon. She kept on slaying the innocent after that. Seeing this, the Gods became extremely worried and approached Lord Shiva for help. Only Shiva had the power to stop Kali at this stage. So, Lord Shiva went and lay down among the corpses where the Goddess was dancing. Accidentally, Kali stepped on Shiva and soon She realised Her mistake. It is then Her tongue immediately came out of embarrassment and She calmed down. She was ashamed that Her blood lust had prevented Her from recognizing Her own husband. Thus, She came back to Her original form and the destruction was stopped. Shiva lying at Kali’s feet also symbolises the supremacy of Nature over man. It clearly shows that without Kali or Shakti even a powerful force like Lord Shiva is inert. Hence, Kali is shown as stepping on Shiva’s chest. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Stories of Goddess Saraswati: After Lord Brahma created the cosmic universe, he realized that it lacked forms, concepts and orders. He felt lost and needed assistance to organize the Universe. He decided to create the very embodiment of knowledge to help him with this Herculean task, and from his mouth emerged the Goddess Saraswati. She gave him direction on how to create order in the cosmos, as we know it. The Sun, the Moon, and the Stars were born. The oceans emerged and seasons changed. The joyous Brahma then named Saraswati - Vagdevi, the Goddess of speech and sound. Thus, Brahma became the Creator of the World with Saraswati as his Source of Wisdom. Another legend tale tells the story of how Goddess Saraswati got back the life-giving Somras from the Gandharvas without a war. It is believed that the Gandharvas were demigods who sprang from the fragrance of flowers. They stole the Soma plant from the Gods, as its inebriating and invigorating sap was believed to make devas immortal. This infuriated the Gods, but Goddess Saraswati promised to recover the plant without a fight. She walked into the garden of the Gandharvas and began to create beautiful music with her veena - the enchanting tunes of ragas and the raginis. Mesmerized, the Gandharvas begged for the music, and Goddess Saraswati agreed to teach it to them if they returned the Soma plant. Hence, the gods got back their Soma plant, and the Gandharvas learned music to become celestial musicians whose melodies could rouse the mind like no other intoxicant. While together Lord Brahma and Goddess Saraswati are considered to be the creators of the universe, few know that they never enjoyed domestic bliss. Legends say that she sprung from the forehead of her father, Brahma. When Brahma set eyes on the beautiful Saraswati, he became enamored by her beauty and intelligence. Saraswati disliked his lust, so she decided to escape his gaze. But no matter what direction she moved in, Brahma grew another head just to be able to look at her. He grew a head in each direction and one atop them all – hence having 5 heads to be able to see her anywhere. This distressed Goddess Saraswati a great deal and she cursed Lord Brahma, so he would have very few temples to worship him. When Brahma’s lust started to upset the order of the world, Lord Shiva stepped in as Bhairava, Lord of Terror. As Bhairava ripped off Brahma’s fifth head, he came back to his senses. He needed to perform a yagna to cleanse himself, but needed a wife for that. So Brahma took Saraswati as his wife. Yet, she remained aloof and absent-minded as the marriage was out of duty, and the two never enjoyed marital bliss. Ref article: https://www.rudraksha-ratna.com/articles/stories-of-goddess-saraswati

• Why Urmila, Lakshman’s Wife Slept Continuously for 14 Years The story can be traced back to the times when King Janak wanted to marry off his daughter, Sita. He had organised a Swayamvara in which kings from far off kingdoms had been invited to lift Shiva Dhanusha. Nobody, other than Lord Ram, could do that. Hence, Goddess Sita got married to Lord Rama. On the same day, Lakshman was married to Urmila, Bharath to Mandavi and Shrutakirti to Shatrughan. According to one story, when Lakshman was born, he kept crying continuously, until he was made to sleep near Lord Ram, his elder brother. It is said that Lakshman loved being around his elder brother Lord Ram, whom he would not leave for a moment. Lakshman is believed to be the incarnation of Sheshnag, the snake on which Lord Vishnu is often resting. When Lord Ram was sent to exile, Lakshman also presented his desire to go along with him. While all others had agreed, the girl, Urmila, too, expressed her wish to go with them. But much to her disappointment, Lakshman denied to take her along. He believed that she was his responsibility and if he took her along, it might become difficult for him to safeguard his brother and sister-in-law (Lord Ram and Goddess Sita), who were going to be his major responsibilities there. Wanting no distraction, he decided he would not take her along. He told her that just as his responsibility would be to be the comfort of Lord Ram and Goddess Sita, the comfort of his mothers and father Dasharatha would be her responsibility. He told her to take care of them while he was in exile. Urmila decided to diligently follow his orders. Thus, all three of them, Lord Ram, Goddess Sita and Lakshman, left for exile. It is said that Lakshman did not sleep for the entire period of the exile. An interesting story is narrated behind this. When on the first night in exile Lakshman did not sleep, it is believed that Nidra Devi, the goddess of sleep, came before him and asked him for the reason he did not want to sleep. He said that he has the responsibility of safeguarding his brother and his wife and so he did want to sleep. Nidra Devi, however, explained that it was important for every man on the Earth to sleep and take rest in order for the body to function well. But as it is said, Lakshman was very determined about his goals. He was determined not to sleep and perform his responsibility. Pleased by his devotion towards Lord Ram and Goddess Sita, She told him that, if somebody in his place could agree to sleep for the time he was in exile, she would allow him not to sleep and give him the powers for the same. Therefore, Lakshman presented the name of his wife as the person who could agree to do so. He knew she would be happy to hear that for it was a chance she would not feel his absence and whenever she would open her eyes, she will get to see him there. Hearing this, Nidra Devi blessed Lakshman and gave him the powers required. As Nidra Devi went and explained the whole matter to Urmila, she happily agreed. Thus, it is said that Urmila kept sleeping for the entire period Lakshman was in exile. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Kamadeva Reduced to Ashes by Shiva Lord Brahma told Narada that the deities decided to send Kamadeva to influence lord Shiva so that the marriage between him and Parvati is felicitated. Indra called Kamadeva and told him that the demon king Tarakasur could be killed only by such a person who was the son of Shiva and Parvati. Indra instructed Kamadeva to arouse passion in lord Shiva, so that he agrees to marry Parvati. Kamadeva, accompanied by his wife Rati went to lord Shiva to accomplish his mission. After reaching the place where lord Shiva was engrossed in his meditation, Kamadeva made repeated attempts to arouse passion in the heart of lord Shiva, but his actions were no avail. Right then, Kamadeva saw Parvati arriving accompanied by her companions. She was looking divine in her beauty. Just at that moment lord Shiva too had come out of his meditational trance. Kamadeva thought that it was the most appropriate moment to have a go. Kamadeva struck lord Shiva with his ‘Kamabana’ which did have a deep impact on him. Lord Shiva was struck by the awesome beauty of Parvati and his heart became full of passion for her. But at the same time he was surprised at the sudden change in his behaviour. He realized that it was an act of Kamadeva. Lord Shiva looked all around him. He saw Kamadeva standing towards his left side, with a bow and arrows in his hands. Now he was fully convinced that it was indeed an act of Kamadeva. Kamadeva became terrified, he started remembering god, but before the deities could come at his rescue the third eye of lord Shiva got opened and Kamadeva was reduced to ashes. Parvati got scarred after seeing Lord Shiva in such a destructive anger. She went to her house along with her companions. Rati- the wife of Kamadeva wept unconsolably. The deities arrived and consoled her by saying that by the grace of lord Shiva, her husband would be alive once again. After that the deities went near lord Shiva and did his worship. They told him that it was not the fault of Kamadeva, as he had acted in accordance with the aspirations of the deities. They also told him the mystery of Tarakasur’s death. The deities then requested him to make Kamadeva alive once again. Lord Shiva told the deities that Kamadeva would take birth as the son of Krishna and Rukmini in the era of dwapar. A demon by the name of Shambar would throw him off in the sea. He would kill that demon and marry Rati, who too would be living in a city near the sea. But the deities were not satisfied. They requested lord Shiva to help Rati to unite with her husband. Lord Shiva then told them that Kamadeva would become his gana, but he also warned them against revealing this fact to anybody. Rati then went to the city where the demon Shambar was expected to appear in the era of dwapar. The deities too went back to the heaven. Lord Shiva’s anger did not subside after the death of Kamadeva and the whole world started to feel the wrath of lord Shiva’s fury. All the living creatures became terrified. They went to lord Brahma and prayed to him, to save them from Shiva’s wrath. Lord Brahma went to lord Shiva and conveyed their request to him. Lord Shiva agreed to relinquish his anger. Lord Brahma then carried Shiva’s ‘fury’ to the sea and went to the sea. He requested the sea to posses it until the final annihilation. The sea agreed to do this. This way Lord Shiva’s fury entered into the sea and all the living creatures felt a sign of relief. Ref article: https://www.templepurohit.com/why-did-lord-shiva-punish-kamadev-reduce-him-to-ashes/

• Soaring towards the sun: Hanuman The monkey god, Hanuman, is known to be invincible and immortal, the devotee of Lord Rama. A tale about the monkey god as a baby. Hanuman was the son of Vayu, the god of the wind, and Anjana, a celestial nymph. You’re probably wondering how the son of the wind god and a nymph turned out to be a monkey. The answer is that Anjana once angered a sage who cursed her to be born as a monkey. When the nymph begged for pardon, the sage calmed down and said that she would regain her original form after she bore a son who would win great renown. Even as a child, Hanuman had great powers. One morning, he saw the sun rising and thought it was a great yellow ball. He decided to get hold of it so that he could play with it. Indra, the king of gods, saw Hanuman leap into the sky and wanted to stop him. And how did he do that? He threw his weapon, the Vajra (thunderbolt) at the child. Hanuman fell to earth, wounded. Hanuman’s enraged father decided to go on a strike until the one who hurt his child was punished. Imagine if there is no wind on earth! How would it be? No gentle cooling breeze when the sun blazes down. No power to move the rain-bearing clouds. Why, after a point, both humans and animals couldn’t breathe. Vayu’s strike made life on earth difficult. The gods knew they had to placate Vayu. So, they offered the baby a multitude of boons. Brahma said that no weapon would ever hurt Hanuman and that he would be able to change his form at will and travel wherever he chose. Indra’s boon was that the Vajra would no longer hurt the child and that his body would be stronger than the weapon. Varuna, the god of the ocean, offered him protection from water. Agni, the god of fire, blessed him with immunity to fire. Surya, the sun god, gave him the power to change the size of his body. Yama blessed him with good health and immortality. Vishwakarma, the divine architect, offered a boon that Hanuman would be safe from all objects of his creation. With all these boons, Hanuman became a great warrior who played a crucial role in the Ramayan. Ref article: https://www.thehindu.com/features/kids/a-story-about-hanuman-the-monkey-god/article8336448.ece

• Hanuman The Selfless A pair of lovebirds, enjoying their natural freedom, was soaring the boundless skies. Fate however had scripted a cruel ending to their mating. A hunter’s arrow found its mark and the devoted female lost her male. She did not however escape from the scene but rather lingered on, circling over the lifeless form of her mate. Witnessing this poignant episode inspired the accomplished sage Valmiki to poetry and what came out of his heart was the Ramayana, one of the greatest poems the earth has had the good fortune to inherit. Indeed, Valmiki’s poem became renowned in the three worlds as it struck a chord in every heart that heard it. One day Valmiki came to know that the great Hanuman too had penned the adventures of Rama, engraving the story with his nails on rocks. A curious Valmiki traveled to the Himalayas where Hanuman was residing to see this version. When Hanuman read out his narration, Valmiki was overwhelmed by its sheer power and poetic caliber. It was truly an inspired piece. Valmiki felt both joy and sorrow. Joy because he had had the chance to hear an exceptionally beautiful poem, and sad because it obviously overshadowed his own work. When Hanuman saw the unhappiness his work had caused Valmiki he smashed the engraved rocks destroying his creation forever. Such was Hanuman’s selflessness. For him, narrating the tales of Rama’s adventures was a means to re-experience Rama, not a means to fame. Hanuman’s name too illustrates his self-effacing character, being made up of ‘hanan’ (annihilation) and ‘man’ (mind), thus indicating one who has conquered his ego. Ref article: https://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/hanuman/

• Hanuman and Yoga If yoga is the ability to control one’s mind then Hanuman is the quintessential yogi having a perfect mastery over his senses, achieved through a disciplined lifestyle tempered by the twin streams of celibacy and selfless devotion (bhakti). In fact, Hanuman is the ideal Brahmachari (one who follows the path of Brahma), if ever there was one. He is also a perfect karma yogi since he performs his actions with detachment, acting as an instrument of destiny rather than being impelled by any selfish motive. Hanuman - The First to Teach Pranayama and the Inventor of the Surya Namaskar: Pranayama is the ability to control one’s breath so that the inhalation and exhalation of air is rhythmic. Vayu, the god of air and wind, first taught pranayama to his son Hanuman, who in turn taught it to mankind. The Surya Namaskar (salutation to the sun) too, was devised by Hanuman as a greeting for his teacher Surya. Ref article: https://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/hanuman/

• Why Images of Hanuman Ji are Used on Amulets and Jewelry As the battle with Ravana progressed, the demon lost all his brothers and sons and it became clear that he was headed towards defeat. Finally, he sent for his only surviving son Mahiravana, a powerful sorcerer who ruled over the underworld (patala loka). Mahiravana was a great devotee of Goddess Kali from whom he had obtained vital occult secrets. Initially Mahiravana did not wish to join the fight against Rama since he felt the latter’s cause to be just. But understanding Mahiravana’s weakness for ritual magic Ravana addressed him thus: “Think of the powers the goddess Kali will grant you when you offer to her the heads of two handsome and virile youths like Rama and Lakshmana.” Needles to say, Mahiravana agreed. The great sorcerer Mahiravana managed to kidnap both Rama and his brother Lakshmana while they were sleeping. He left behind, in place of their bed, a dark trail stretching deep into the bowels of the earth. Hanuman immediately dived into the tunnel and made his way to patala, the subterranean kingdom of Mahiravana. There he found the two brothers tied to a post, their bodies anointed with mustard oil and bedecked with marigold flowers, ready to be sacrificed. Near them, Mahiravana was sharpening the sacrificial blade and chanting hymns to invoke the goddess. Hanuman taking the form of a bee whispered into Rama’s ear, “When Mahiravana asks you to place your neck on the sacrificial block, inform him that being of royal lineage you have never learned to bow your head. Tell him to demonstrate how to bow one’s head.” Mahiravana fell for the trap. No sooner had he bowed his head in the ritually prescribed manner than Hanuman regained his form, seized the blade, and decapitated the sorcerer. Thus did Hanuman turn the tables and sacrificed the demon himself to Mother Goddess Kali. Impressed, she made Hanuman her doorkeeper and indeed many temples of the goddess are seen to have a monkey guarding their doorways. Further, to this day, Hanuman is invoked in any fight against sorcery, and amulets and charms depicting him are therefore extremely popular among devotees. Ref article: https://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/hanuman/

• Hanuman as Protector Against Negative Astrological Influences Mahiravana’s death filled Ravana’s heart with fear. He consulted the court astrologers who studied his horoscope and decreed that the alignment of celestial bodies was not in his favor. Now, Indian astrology is governed by nine planets, known as the Navagrahas. Ravana thought that by changing the alignment of these heavenly bodies he would be able to alter his destiny. Mounting his flying chariot he rose to the skies, captured the nine planets, and herded them to his capital in chains. He then began a series of rituals which if successful would force the planets to realign themselves in his favor. When Hanuman came to know of this ritual, he assembled and led a band of daredevil monkeys to Ravana’s sacrificial hall, intending to disrupt the proceedings. They found the villain sitting beside a fire altar with his eyes shut in profound meditation, mouthing mantras. The group of simians let out a loud war cry and rushed into the hall. They snuffed out the sacred fire, kicked off the ceremonial utensils and wiped off the occult diagrams (yantras) painted on the floor. Unfortunately none of this roused Ravana from his deep trance and he continued chanting the sacred mantras. Hanuman realized that Ravana would have to be stopped at any cost, otherwise the villain would succeed in changing the course of destiny. Towards this end he devised a mischievous plan, and ordered his lieutenants to enter the female chambers and scare away Ravana’s many wives. The monkeys did as instructed and attacked Ravana’s queens and concubines, pulling their hair, scratching their faces and tearing away their clothes. But it was all to no avail; the immovable Ravana did not stir. At last the monkeys confronted Mandodari, the chief wife of Ravana. They bared their teeth, beat their chests and began to grunt menacingly. Terrified, Mandodari lamented, “Woe is me. My husband meditates while monkeys threaten my chastity.” Her words ashamed Ravana to open his eyes and rush to her defence. Thus having successfully distracted Ravana, Hanuman ran back to the sacrificial hall and liberated the nine planets held captive there. For having successfully aborted Ravana’s misplaced attempts to subvert fate, Hanuman won the eternal gratitude of the grahas and is thus believed to exercise considerable power over them. Correspondingly, he is worshipped by his devotees whenever they perceive their troubles to be a result of the unfavorable configuration of celestial bodies. Indeed, Hanuman is often shown trampling under his feet a woman who is said to represent Panvati, a personification of baneful astrological influences. Another interesting legend deals specifically with the planet Saturn (Shani). Perceived to be an unfavorable influence, it is believed that Saturn visits each individual at least once in his/her lifetime for a period of seven-and-a-half years (saade-saati). As fate would have it, Shani descended on Hanuman when he was busy building a bridge over the ocean to help Rama and his army cross over to Lanka. Hanuman requested the planet to postpone his visit till he had successfully assisted Rama in regaining Sita. But Saturn was adamant and Hanuman had to bow against the will of nature. He suggested that Shani sit on his (Hanuman’s) head as his hands were engaged in serving Rama and his legs were too lowly for him. Saturn happily settled on Hanuman’s head and the mighty monkey continued with his work, piling heavy boulders and stones on his head in an apparently casual manner and carrying them to the construction site. After a while Saturn found it impossible to bear the load of the heaped boulders any longer and wished to climb down. Hanuman insisted that he complete his mandatory seven-and-a-half years but Saturn pleaded for release saying that the seven-and-a-half minutes he stayed on Hanuman’s head felt like seven-and-a-half years anyway. Thus speaking Saturn took leaveand since then worshippers of Hanuman rest assured that the unavoidable ill effects of Saturn’s saade-saati (seven-and-a-half years stay) can be whittled down by a true devotion to Hanuman. Ref article: https://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/hanuman/

• Hanuman and the Potency of Mother’s Milk After the annihilation of Ravana, Rama asked Hanuman how he would like to be thanked for his services. He answered, “My lord, let me spend the rest of my days in your service.” Rama gladly accepted the request. Thus Hanuman too boarded the chariot, that was to take Rama and his entourage back to Ayodhya. On the way however, Hanuman thought of visiting his mother Anjana who lived on a mountain nearby. Rama and all other members of the party too were curious to meet Hanuman’s mother and hence the chariot was diverted to her dwelling. On reaching the place Hanuman approached his mother whose happiness knew no bounds. She embraced her bundle of joy. All others present too bowed in reverence to the mother of Hanuman. The worthy son narrated to her the entire sequence of events ending with Ravana’s death on the battlefield. Surprisingly, his words did not please his mother but rather she became remorseful and addressed Hanuman thus: “My giving birth to you has been in vain, and feeding you with my milk has been of no avail.” On hearing her strange words all became panicky and were left speechless. Hanuman too stared at her in mute incomprehension. After a brief pause she continued with her tirade: “Shame on your strength and valour. Did you not have enough power to uproot Lanka on your own? Could you not have annihilated the ten-headed monster and his army yourself? If you were not strong enough to do so it would have been better if you had at least perished yourself in fighting him. I regret the fact that even though you were alive Lord Rama had to build a perilous bridge of stones over the turbulent ocean to reach Lanka and had to fight the massive army of demons and thus suffer a great ordeal in order to recover his beloved Sita. Indeed, the nourishment my breast has given you has proved to be unfruitful. Go away and don’t ever show me your face again.” She was obviously referring to the instance when Hanuman was deputed to go and search for Sita in the city of Lanka. Only when he had confirmed Sita’s presence in Ravana’s custody could a formal battle be launched to rescue her. Hanuman not only brought news of her wretched condition in captivity but also during his brief visit managed to burn down the whole city and thus gave Ravana an inkling of the times to come. Anjana’s annoyance stemmed from the fact that even though Hanuman was supremely capable of bringing back Sita on his own during that visit itself, he did not do so and much effort had to be expended later to accomplish the mission. Hence was she trembling with wrath. With folded hands Hanuman addressed her: “O Great Mother, no way have I compromised on the sacred worth of your milk. I am but a mere servant. During that visit I had been instructed only to search for Sita and not kill Ravana. Had I done so of my own accord it would have amounted to overstepping my brief. I therefore acted scrupulously and kept my word.” In fact, Hanuman had asked Sita, when he met her in Ravana’s captivity, whether she would prefer to be rescued by him at that very moment. She replied in the negative stressing that it was her husband’s duty to liberate her and Rama himself would have to come and take her back. The entire gathering corroborated Hanuman’s version and much mollified his distressed mother. She spoke to him affectionately: “Dear son I never knew all this but now that I do it is comforting that my milk has indeed borne abundant fruit.” The repeated glorification of her own milk by Anjana was not relished by Lakshmana, who thought it an exaggeration. Sensing this, she addressed him saying: “Lakshmana, you are wondering why this apparently feeble monkey-woman is harping on the efficacy and potency of her own milk? My milk is indeed extraordinary.” Saying this Anjana squeezed her breast and the oozing milk shower shot to a nearby mountain cleaving it thunderously into two. Addressing Lakshmana again she elaborated: “Hanuman has been brought up on the same milk, how could it ever go to waste?” Ref article: https://www.exoticindiaart.com/article/hanuman/

• Why Idols of Hanuman are Red in Color Every morning in Ayodhya, Hanuman Ji would observe Sita put a red mark on her forehead and smear the parting of her hair with vermilion powder, enacting a ritual which is the exclusive prerogative of married women in India. Being naturally of a curious bent of mind he asked her the reason behind this daily ritual. “For the well-being of my husband,” replied she. Hanuman, ever the humble well-wisher of his chosen lord wondered: “If a virtuous woman like Sita has to apply vermilion in this manner for the good of Lord Rama, I, a mere monkey, need to do more.” Thus thinking, he took a bowlful of the paste and smeared his whole body with it. Needless to say, both Rama and Sita were moved by the purity of Hanuman’s heart. Since then, idols of Hanuman are colored a rich vermilion red. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Why Hanuman is Shown Tearing Open his Own Chest Once Sita gave Hanuman a necklace of pearls. After a while, the residents of Ayodhya observed him breaking the necklace and inspecting each pearl minutely. Intrigued they asked him the reason. “I am looking for Rama and Sita,” replied Hanuman. Laughing at his apparent naivety the spectators pointed out to him that the royal couple was at the moment seated on the imperial throne. “But Rama and Sita are everywhere, including my heart” wondered aloud the true bhakta. Not understanding the depth of his devotion, they further teased him: “So Rama and Sita live in your heart, can you show them to us?” Unhesitatingly, Hanuman stood up and with his sharp talons tore open his chest. There, within his throbbing heart, the astonished audience were taken aback to find enshrined an image of Rama and Sita. Never again did anyone make fun of Hanuman’s devotion. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Nalakubera’s curse Eons ago, long before the birth of Rama’s father, Dasharatha, Ravana the Rakshasa King of Lanka went on an expedition to conquer Swargaloka, the realm of the Gods. On the way, Ravana and his forces camped in the ravines of the mighty Himalayas. As the son of Vishrava was exploring the mountains, he beheld an Apsara, a celestial nymph of unearthly beauty. Her name was Rambha. Filled with desire, Ravana went unto her and introduced himself. Ravana asked Rambha to display her affections to him. Rambha told Ravana that she was engaged to Nalakubera, the son of Kubera, God of Wealth who happened to be Ravana’s half brother. Kubera lived in the Himalayas. Rambha spurned Ravana’s advances, but that wretch of Pulatsya’s race, blind and insensate with lust, ravished the Apsara, against her will. When Nalakubera found out about this sin committed by the Lord of Lanka, he pronounced a curse on Ravana that if he ever approached a woman against her will, he would die in that very state with no loss of time. Ravana, intoxicated with vanity, outwardly disregarded the words of his nephew, but from within, he dreaded the curse heaped upon him. Thus Sita, the devoted wife of Rama, protected by Nalakubera’s curse, was safe from the crimes of Ravana. The son of Vishrava was eventually defeated and slain by Vishnu, in the guise of a mortal named Rama, the Ikshvaku King of Ayodhya. Ref article: Not found…/Source deprecated.

• Gita story: Krishna and Balarama take care of devotee Arjunacharya and his wife were very simple and humble devotees. They lived in a small hut and everyday after his morning duties, he used to go to village and beg for alms. As a rule he used to visit only three houses and beg alms. He used to accept just enough alms for himself and his wife to live. He was writing a commentary on Bhagavad Gita and everyday he spent hours reading and writing. One day he was so engrossed in it that he forgot to go to village for getting food. Since it was already late afternoon, the ladies in the village were resting and there was no spare food even in single house. So he came back empty handed. Once more he sat to read the Bhagavad Gita. In the ninth chapter verse 22, Lord Krishna says – ananyaash cintayanto maam ye janaah paryupaasate teshaam nityaabhiyuktaanaam yoga-kshemam vahaamy aham “But those who always worship Me with exclusive devotion, meditating on My transcendental form to them I carry what they lack, and I preserve what they have.” Arjunacharya started thinking about the last words deeply and did not find them correct. How could the Lord say, “vahamya aham” – I personally carry ? He scratched the line – “yoga kshema vahaamyaham” and then he told his wife that he was going to river for a bath. Meanwhile two boys ( Krishna and Balarama ) appeared and carried loads of rice, vegetables fruits and butter and handed it over to Arjunacharya’s wife. She was surprised and wonder-struck by their beautiful faces and so she asked them who they were. They introduced themselves as disciples of her husband and that they have brought these provisions as per their order. She was very thankful and happy that now can cook something for her hungry husband, When the boys started leaving she saw the scars on the back of their bodies, she was shocked. She asked them: Who has done this to you oh beautiful boys? They told her that her husband makes them work very hard and if they did not obey he used to beat them. She was not able to believe what they said. But she felt very sad for them and applied sandal wood paste on their backs to relieve the pain and they left immediately. When Arjunacharya returned home his wife was very angry at him. She even didint wanted to speak to him. Arjunacharya asked her : Why you do not want to speak to me? Have i hurt you? No – reply his wife you are bad person. You are hurting small children! How? asked Arjunacharya. When he heard what his wife told him, he was able to realize that the two boys were Krishna and Balaram. He ran inside where his Bhagavad Gita was lying and could see that the pen marks on his shloka had vanished. He started weeping for doubting the Lord’s word and said,”Yogakshemam vaahamy aham ! It is true. You do come personally to save the devotees. Oh ! Please forgive me”. His wife felt sad for not having recognized them, though she saw them face to face. But Arjunacharaya was very happy thinking how hsi wife has direct darshan of Krishna and Balarama. Arjunacharaya consoled her and said, “Now I have understood that there is no difference between Lord Krishna and Bhagavad Gita. By screeching on Bhavgavad gita i was screeching body of the Lord Krishna. And Lord is truth , He takes care of His devotees. He personally carries what they have and provides what they lack” . Then they began to chant and glorify the Lord. (This is real incident) Ref article: https://www.bhagavatam-katha.com/bhagavad-gita-story-krishna-and-balarama-take-care-of-devotee/

• Bhakti story: Hanuman and vina of Narada Muni Once Hanuman and his mother Ketari heard a sound of misical instrument Vina and beautiful singing of Krishnas holy name. Ketari said, “Who is this singing? It must be Narada Muni coming!” Hanuman asked, “Who is this person?” Ketari replied, “He is a very great soul. He doesn’t need any introduction. You just go to him and you will find out the greatness of this man.” Immediately Hanuman jumped up and Narada was just on his way past their place, going to see some rishi, so Hanuman jumped in his way and paid pranams. “Narada Muni, I heard that you are a very great person, so you must bless me. Without blessing me, you are not allowed to go!” Narada said, “What blessing do you want?” Hanuman said, “Already the demigods have given me so many blessings. I cannot think of anything else, so you think of a blessing, and you give it to me.” Narada thought, “What blessing does Hanuman not have?” And so he said, “You will become expert in music.” That was the only benediction left to give. So Hanuman got that benediction, and Narada Muni said, “So I have given you the benediction, and now I am going.” Hanuman said, “One minute, one minute.” “What do you want?” Narada asked. “How will I know that I am the most expert in music?” Hanuman inquired. “My father told me that you are the most expert in music, so you must do me a favour today. Give me the benediction that I will be more expert than you!” So Narada said, “All right, I will sit somewhere and listen to you.” “Shall I start singing?” Hanuman asked. “Yes.” Narada Muni put his vina on a rock, and he sat down on the ground. So Hanuman selected that tune which would melt the rock, and he began to sing it. The rock melted, and the vina was in the liquid. He was singing and singing, and the vina was floating in the liquid rock. Narada was closing his eyes and enjoying in exstasy, and he said, “All right Hanuman, you are the best musician. You can stop singing now.” Hanuman said, “You open your eyes and tell me if I should I stop singing.” Narada said, “How do you mean?” Hanuman replied, “You open your eyes.” So Narada opened his eyes and looked around. He didn’t notice the vina floating in the stone water. “Yes, you can stop singing.” So then Hanuman stopped singing, and the liquid stone became rock, and the vina got stuck. Narada said, “I am going,” and he took his vina, but it wouldn’t move. “What did you do, Hanuman?” Hanuman said, “I only sung a song. You told me to sing a song, and you also gave me the ability. Now you are complaining. I have been a good boy for a whole week.” Narada said, “One week of doing nothing means that before that week you did too much.” And then Hanuman told him all about what he had done, swallowing the sun etc, and Narada became very pleased. Then he said, “Now whatever it was, you please sing the tune again, so I can get my vina.” Hanuman said, “Well, I don’t know….” Narada Muni said, “Please do it!” “No I won’t,” Hanuman said, and he jumped up and ran inside the palace. So Narada Muni was running after Hanuman who was just running from one room to another. And you know monkeys are fast it is very difficult to catch them. Finally Narada Muni become very tired so he called out, “Hey Hanuman, please come and give me my vina back ! I have to go! I have service to do!” Just then Ketari came out, and when she saw Narada Muni she touched his feet and spoke – “What is my son doing, he is giving you some trouble?” Narada said, “Oh no, no trouble, just that he got my vina stuck in the rock.” Ketari said, “Oh no, he has started his mischief again! Hanuman, get Narada’s vina out of the rock!” said Ketari. And then Hanuman said, “I wanted Narada Muni’s feet to touch every room in this palace, that is why I was doing this. Now he has touched all the rooms and he has made our home holy place of pilgrimage. The dust from his lotus feet is so rare that what is the use of just having it in one part of our kingdom? We should have it all over. Now I can give him back his vina. ” Narada said, “You are already blessed, because you are Lord Rama’s eternal servant.” So Hanuman went and sung for Narada, who quickly took his vina and left. Ref article: https://www.bhagavatam-katha.com/bhakti-story-hanuman-and-vina-of-narada-muni/

• Holy name story: Hanuman burning death body’s at Lanka! Once Narada Muni met with Hanuman and confronted him by saying, “You are not a devotee!”. (Of course Narada muni told this in jest and being a pure devotee himself, wanted to reveal the true devotion of Hanuman from his own mouth). Hanuman was surprised and asked him, how did he come to that conclusion. Narada muni then replied, “According to Vedic injunctions there are six kinds of aggressors and one of them is a person who sets fire to other’s house. There is no sins incurred when such aggressors are killed. Such is the gravity of the sins accrued by one who sets fire to other’s house. And when you went to find Mother Sita in Lanka, you set fire to the houses of the Rakshasas on your return. How then can I call you a devotee of the Lord?”. Understanding the real import of Narada muni’s charges upon him, Hanuman smiled and said, “My dear Naradaji, one of the important duties of a Rama bhakta is to take charge of unclaimed dead bodies and perform final rites for those bodies so that they will attain a better life in their next birth. When I went to Lanka I found that in those big palaces nobody was chanting the names of the Lord. And it is said in the shastras that those who do not chant the holy names and fame of the Lord are considered dead bodies. Since they are already dead, in order to release them from their most miserable existence, I burnt all of them along with their palaces. There was only one palace which is that of Vibheeshana from where I could hear the names of Lord Rama’s being chanted and hence I left that house alone unburnt.” Infact Hanuman went one step further and made a loud roar which frightened all the resident rakshasas of Lanka. Hearing that fierce roar, many pregnant rakshasi’s womb were aborted. This way Hanuman made sure that in the future also these rakshasa clan does not appear in Lanka and create disturbance. Narada muni was very pleased to hear this answer from Hanuman and hugged and praised him for his unsurpassable devotion unto Lord Rama. Ref article: https://www.bhagavatam-katha.com/holy-name-story-hanuman-burning-death-bodys-at-lanka-2/

• Ramayana story: Stone rejected by Rama! Ramachandra Bhagavan wanted to cross over from South India to Lanka in order to defeat Ravana, and He had to transport the monkey army also. He thought that, as it is He can’t do anything. And He cannot take all the monkeys across of ocean in between India and Lanka. He thought that we must have a bridge so that everyone can cross. So who can do it? He called Hanuman and told him, “We want a bridge tomorrow ready.” Hanuman said “Alright Bhagavan.” Hanuman knew that the Lord does not only order the living entities. But when He orders, He gives the strength also so that we can fulfill His desire. So he was sure. He started to bring big mountains and stones from all over India and try to deposit them near the coast of the ocean. On each stone he was writing ‘Ram’ and he was throwing them in the ocean. And the stones were floating. Lord Ramachandra was standing by the side. He was surprised that the stones were floating when they were thrown in the ocean. Then Lord Ram wanted to try it himself. He thought, “If these stones are floating just by writing My name on it, then when I throw also they must float.” So He picked up a big stone and threw it in to the ocean. It sank in the ocean. He thought that something must be wrong. Again He picked up another stone and threw and again it went down. Hanuman was watching Ram. He asked, ”What are you doing Bhagavan?” Ram didn’t want to tell anything because He was not successful. Hanuman said, “I know Bhagavan what you are doing. You must know these things better than me. I am bringing the stones and I am writing Your name on it. So Your association is there with the stone. Even the stone if it has the association of Krishna or Ram, it will definitely float. But when You throw the stone, You are rejecting the stone. So once You reject, how can they float?” Ref article: https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/stone-rejected-by-rama

• What caused the end of Sita? It all started with the agnipariksha of Sita Rama returned victorious from the war in Lanka, and everyone in Ayodhya celebrated his victory. They took him to be their king, and he celebrated over 10,000 years on the throne. But people gossiped and some of them gossiped and doubted Sita’s chastity because she had spent so much time in Ravana’s home. Rama could not handle these rumors and doubted Sita’s purity. Sita, who could not take this doubt, jumped into the fire. And because Sita was so pure, the fire did not burn her, and all the gods sang of her purity. But Rama’s first priority was always his praja, his subjects, and hence, he banished her from the kingdom. And so, Sita left for her second exile, pregnant, and settled herself in sage Valmiki’s ashram. Rama, continued to rule righteously and held many yagnas and one of them was the Ashwamedha Yagna In this yagna, a horse was let loose and the horse had to be caught – just like a game. All the royals pursued this horse with their chariots and tried to capture it. But in the end, two small children from the forest caught it. And when the royals like Lakshmana, Sugreev, Hanuman tried to recapture them from these children, they were all defeated by them. These two children were none other than sons of Rama who were in Sita’s womb when she was exiled. They were raised by Sita in sage Valmiki’s ashram, and because they are Rama’s sons, they could not be defeated in the battle In the end, Rama, hearing the news that somehow most of his valiant warriors had failed to recapture the horse had failed, tried to engage with these boys himself. Sita, who was looking for the boys is aghast to find Rama trying to battle against his own sons. That is when she tell Rama about Luv and Kush – his twin sons. Because Luv and Kush were born away from Ayodhya, the doubts would be raised again. And that is why Rama doubted Sita’s chastity a second time But Sita was now too annoyed with Rama on being told to perform another test of her chastity, and appealed to mother earth to take her away. And Mother Earth obliged. And it was appropriate for Bhumi to take Sita away. Bhumi, who bears the weight of billions of beings on herself and suffers in silence – the same misfortune Sita had to bear all her life. And so, the story of Sita ends. Ref article: https://storypick.com/laxmana-sita-death/

• Narada Muni’s Curse: Narada Muni went to meditate in a special grove which Shiva had blessed. And Shiva said, “This Tapovan, is this forest for tapasya, I am giving a special blessing, no one will be able to disturb a meditating Muni who sits in this Tapovan. Well, Narada sat in the Tapovan unknowingly and started to meditate. Indra became concerned, “Why is Narada meditating so strongly? I’m sending Agni, Varuna and Vayu down to disturb him.” Agni, Vayu and Varuna went down and Varuna made it rain, and Narada didn’t respond. Vayu made the wind blow, and Narada did not respond. Agni lit the place on fire, Narada sat still in perfect stillness in meditation. All three of them went back to heaven and they said, “Indra, we can’t disturb his meditation, he’s meditating so strongly we don’t know how to stop him from meditating.” Then Indra called Kamadeva, the God of Love, and said, “Kamadeva, you go down and break his meditation. Take Rathi, take the Apsaras with you, the celestial nymphs, the dancing girls, do whatever you have to do, make him stop meditating.” Kamadeva went down and tried everything within his power. And he had all his girls, they were dancing and they were making spring sprung and the bees were buzzing and the birds were humming, and it was the atmosphere of Love and Narada didn’t stir one bit. Kamadeva admitted defeat. The God of Love went back to Indra and said, “I can’t break his meditation.” At that, Narada woke up and said, “I have defeated all the Gods, I have even defeated the God of Love, I am beyond lust.” And he was so happy, and he went to Shiva in Kailash and Shiva said, “Narada, your shining radiantly why are you so happy today?” And Narada said, “Shiva, I defeated Kamadeva, he couldn’t break my meditation, I have conquered the God of Love.” And Shiva said, “Narada, that’s very interesting, but if you have an experience like that don’t ever tell Vishnu.” Narada said, “Why wouldn’t I want to tell Vishnu, I mean I’m always saying Narayana, Narayana, he’ll be so happy to hear the news.” And Shiva said, “Well, you do as you like, but I suggest don’t tell Vishnu.” And Narada took his leave from Shiva and he went right to Vaikuntha and he said, “Vishnu, I’ve just come from the greatest meditation.” And Vishnu smiled and said, “Really, you look radiant like you’ve achieved a tremendous victory. What kind of meditation did you have?” And Narada said, “I defeated the God of Love. I am free from Love, I am free from lust and desire.” And Vishnu said, “Oh, that’s fine, that’s very nice, wonderful, I applaud your attainment.” Narada went off, and he was so full of happiness and joy and self-conceit that it was his power that allowed him to sit there and meditate without any disturbance. And it wasn’t because Shiva had blessed that grove, it was because of Narada’s attainment. And as Narada was traveling, he looked out and he saw this beautiful young princess dancing near the garden. And he looked down and he said, “Wow, there’s a beautiful young princess, I’m going to go see who she is.” So he went down to the garden and he saw that it was the daughter of the King Shilanidhi. And he went in to see the king and the king said, “Oh, Narada Muni has come, please, my daughter is just about to choose her husband, please look at her palm and tell us what kind of husband she should choose. What will be her fate?” He called the daughter, he said, “Please, sit here next to Narada Muni.” And Narad Muni looked at the palm of this princess and her name was Vishwamohini. And he took the hand of Vishwamohini and he looked in that palm and he saw that whoever marries this lady is going to be the king of the three worlds, he’s going to live as the Gods live. And suddenly Narada thought, “Well, I should marry this girl”. And he said, “Well, everything looks wonderful in her hand and she’s going to find the most beautiful, the most handsome prince, and they’re going to marry and be very happy.” And Narada went straight to Vaikuntha and he said, “Vishnu, you got to do something for me, I have a favor for you, I want you to turn me into the most handsome prince and deck me out with many ornaments, and gold, and finery and silks and satins and make me as beautiful and as desirable as possible.” And Vishnu said, “Narada, why, I thought you had just conquered the God of Love.” And Narada said, “Oh, yes, I did conquer the God of Love but now I’m thinking that I should marry this princess.” And this is going to be her swayamvar, she is going to choose her husband, I want to have the most distinctive appearance.” And Vishnu promised, “I’m going to give you the most distinctive appearance.” And he dressed him in the finest, and gave him a golden crown. And gave him all these ornaments, and made jewels and necklaces and garlands and he made him the most beautiful looking prince with the face of a monkey. Narada went to the assembly of all the kings and princes and he walked in knowing that he was the most beautiful of all the princes, “Gee, the princess will certainly choose him”. And the princess took the garland of victory and she walked around the assembly of princes, and she looked at the face of everyone assembled there and passed by many people, and she came to Narada Muni and she started to laugh! There was this beautiful monkey dressed like a prince coming to win her hand, and she walked right past him and then she came to the last of the Kings assembled and she gave the garland to Vishnu. Narada said, “Wait! You made a mistake, I’m the most beautiful man here, I’m the most handsome prince and I am deserving of this garland.” And everyone started to laugh. And Jaya and Vijaya (two servants of Vishnu that we met in the last scripture) came to Narada and they said, “Why are you so possessed with yourself, you are so filled with self-conceit, you don’t know what you look like? Come and look in this looking glass, and see what kind of distinctive appearance you have.” And Narada went and looked in the looking glass and he saw he had the face of a monkey. And he got mad, he took some Ganga Jal in his hand and he said, “Vishnu, I asked you to make me beautiful so that I could get the heart of my beloved and win my beloved, and instead you turned me into a monkey. And now I’ve lost my beloved, I curse you Vishnu! You will lose your beloved, and endure the pains of separation from her. And in order to get her back you’re going to make friends with monkeys, and monkeys are going to be your helpers, and your saviors, and your devotees. And you think that it’s funny that I look like a monkey and I lost my beloved, here, is my curse!” And Vishnu smiled when he received the curse. And said, “I accept your curse Narad, and I will incarnate as a human being and my Goddess Lakshmi will be my wife, and I will endure seperation from her. But all of this is to fulfill the curses against Jaya and Vijaya, who became in the first incarnation Madhu and Kaitabha. In their second incarnation they became Hiranyaksha and Hiranyakashyapu. That was the story of Prahalad that we told the other night, which was the story of holding. And then in their third incarnation they became Kumbhakarna and Ravana). And now I have to go down and save the earth from the atrocities of Ravana, so I accept your curse.” However, upon hearing and realizing his mistake Narad Muni adds one more thing to his curse. He says and these monkeys will be the ones who would help you in finding again your wife, during your Human form. So when lord Ram came, there was already destined love in Hanuman towards him. It is said, one who sees the Ram, experience the bliss, so blissful he is in his physical, mental and spiritual aspects. Ref article: https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/narada-sat-in-the-tapovan-unknowingly-and-started-to-meditate

---